The anniversary of the Greensboro Four’s sit-in is quickly approaching. Many believe that the Greensboro Four helped catapult the Civil Rights Movement.
“The Greensboro Four’s motion in the Civil Rights Movement was phenomenal. This was a true demonstration of “fighting” for human liberties in a most civilized manner. A very impactful movement!” said Kamika Strickland, a junior elementary education major.
On February 1, 1960 four African-American North Carolina Agricultural & Technological State University students, Ezell A. Blair Jr. , David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain sat at a segregated lunch counter in the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth's store. This lunch counter only had chairs/stools for whites, while blacks had to stand and eat. Although they were refused service, they were allowed to stay at the counter. The four students were aware that Woolworth’s would not serve blacks at their lunch counter but they sat down anyway, engaging themselves in a plan they had been discussing for a month prior to the sit-in. The actions of the four young men inspired many others’s to join their cause.
Since it was NC A&T student’s that started the sit-in movement in Greensboro almost 50 years ago some current A&T students took the time to reflect on the Civil Rights movement as a whole, as well as its affect on today’s society.
Maurice Crosby is a sophomore History major, “I believe the Civil rights movement was a war in itself. It was a war against oppression, inequality and injustice. The Civil rights movement was a revolution for citizens of a so-called free society that felt that their freedom was being limited and manipulated. This society stated that you are a part of us but you have to be apart from us. A society that proclaimed that each individual citizen is due their equal share of life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness but at the same time excluded many of those people who helped build, shape and design the very fabric that we know to be America.”
Maurice Crosby is a sophomore History major, “I believe the Civil rights movement was a war in itself. It was a war against oppression, inequality and injustice. The Civil rights movement was a revolution for citizens of a so-called free society that felt that their freedom was being limited and manipulated. This society stated that you are a part of us but you have to be apart from us. A society that proclaimed that each individual citizen is due their equal share of life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness but at the same time excluded many of those people who helped build, shape and design the very fabric that we know to be America.”
Augustine Joseph, a sophomore political science major believes, “The Civil Rights was essential to African Americans receiving a fair shake concerning their government in their lives. What has to be understood was before this movement, an entire race of people was considered second-class citizens.”
Stephanie Penny says when she thinks of the Civil Rights movement she thinks of, “Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Rosa Parks, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ida Wells, and Unita Blackwell.”
No matter which public figures you think of, Crosby thinks the most important thing to remember is that “The individuals, who contributed to this movement, stood their ground and fought for something that they felt was bigger than themselves.”
No matter which public figures you think of, Crosby thinks the most important thing to remember is that “The individuals, who contributed to this movement, stood their ground and fought for something that they felt was bigger than themselves.”
The Aggies of today also had many thoughts about the affects of the Civil Rights Movement on today’s society. Jamilla Burke, a nursing major says, “The civil rights movement is something that has impacted the lives of everyone. No matter your race, the civil rights movement shows that with perseverance and determination change can happen.”
Joseph also believes that the movement showed African American students back then that change is possible just as the election of President Barack Obama showed the students of today. “The movement has most certainly changed the entire thought path for African Americans. Since then we have had successful African Americans in all shapes of life and in all forms of government. We have African Americans excelling in the medical field, to our first black President. In a way, the Civil Rights movement helped to uplift black people as a whole and in turn blacks can truly do and achieve anything they put their mind to. If not for the Civil Rights movement we would not be where we are today. So we are, as a next generation in society, truly indebted to those who laid down the foundation to bringing the rights of blacks equal.”
Evan Via also believes the Civil Rights movement greatly affected the United States government. “The civil rights movement was a monumental contribution to our generation being able to accomplish the things we have done today. We have an African American president, members in the senate, and we have obtained various careers in the government and corporate America, all because the members of the civil rights movement sacrificed their time and put their lives on the line for us.”
Not everyone believes that the Civil Rights movement affected everyone, “I believe that some of the progenies of these revolutionaries have forgotten that although we have come a long ways since the spark of the civil rights movement, we have so many more obstacles to triumph over,” said Crosby
On the other hand Penny thinks, “This movement had a major impact on African Americans back then but really benefit us today, without their help, many of us would still be treated as slaves. They have opened up the door to opportunity and success. Now we are acknowledged for the great works that we conquer and have equality.”
Crosby sums up the movements affects like this, “This movement progressed a culture that for so long had been held down, beaten down, and left out. It has enabled many of people to conceive the idea that tomorrow can be better and has relaxed the suppression of a free life, individual liberties and the pursuit of one’s own happiness that every citizen should be entitled to. The civil rights movement never ended and it shall never end until all peoples are free from such things as prejudice and discrimination.”
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