Page #1 African Americans have gone through many struggles for their rights. They have left an impact that will last for many decades; even through their problems they still managed to become equal. To get there they would need recognition. Recognition was very important for them; because if they were not acknowledged people would not be able to see their equality. For example, Jesse Owens broke many world records at the Olympics proving how identical they are. It does not matter the color of their skin; Jesse Owens proved this. With this, George Washington Carver had created many different inventions using a simple peanut. Although the recognition was good, it had its dreadful times. I am talking about when Martin Luther King Junior, he was shot for standing up in something he believed in. Along with this was the Greensboro Four, who gave a generous amount of gratitude for African Americans this helped stop the racial segregation. On February 1st, 1960 four students went into a restaurant for whites only. They stood up for something they believed in, by sitting in a ‘whites only’ restaurant. Those people were four brave people. They were mere freshman; their names were Franklin McClain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, and David Richmond. They were all college students who went to A+T University. The main thing that the Greensboro Four did was being a civilized sit in. A sit in is when African Americans sat down in white only restaurants becoming stubborn and not moving just because the color of their skin. It took a lot of courage to accomplish their goal, but in due time their dream would come true. Page #2
At first you might think the outcome would be horrible, you would think that the Greensboro Four would get beaten, threats and called names. Yet nothing happened to the Greensboro four; the cops came but there was nothing they could do because they did not do anything wrong. Until the Greensboro Four no African American dared try this. They were probably scared of the outcome. Luckily, the Greensboro four proved them wrong and how their movement could alter history. Over the next few weeks, over 300 hundred other African Americans started to join in upon this civil rights movement. The media started to pick up coverage on the Greensboro Four and the rest of the other civil rights activists. They stood up for something they believed in and other people started noticing this. It was a colossal chain reaction of sit in movements. This caused action from the government, they needed to do something. Now all the politicians needed to side with most of America. At this time most Americans started to realize they were not that different from African Americans. To follow up, all the racist politicians started to become unpopular and get out of office. It took 8 years for the bill against segregation to become passed. There were two key roles in this civil right movement, the Greensboro Four and the media. From then on it was only a matter of time for the bill to be passed. “With their very bodies they obstructed the wheels of injustice.” This is a very famous quote about the Greensboro