The USA Conflict Home and Abroad: 2.1

Question 1

Who were the Greensboro four ?

Answer 1

• Izell Blair
• Franklin McCain
• Joseph McNeil
• David Richmond

all were students in a college in Greensboro, North Carolina

Question 2

Describe the events of the Greensboro sit-in, 1960

Answer 2

• 1 February 1960
  [] original Greensboro 4 shop at Woolworth’s, then sit at their segregated lunch counter
  [] they’re refused service, but do not move from their seats until the shop closes
• 2 February 1960
  [] 25 more students joined the sit-in
  [] attracted the attention of the local media, which led to more publicity and more students joining
• 4 February 1960
  [] 300+ students of all genders and races involved in the sit-in, taking shifts
  [] faced much violence and abuse from the white shoppers at Woolworth’s
  [] attracted a lot of publicity which then sparked off more student sit-ins across the country
• July 25th 1960
  [] Woolworth’s lunch counter desegregated
  [] took MORE sit-ins and demonstrations after February to do this
  [] ongoing resistance to desegregation shows the persistent attitudes of segregationists in the south and would’ve attracted mass publicity

Question 3

Describe the significance of the Greensboro sit-ins

Answer 3

• existing civil rights groups like CORE and SCLC helped the sit-ins to spread, showing the importance of organisation
• attracted mass amounts of protesters (50 000 by mid-April)
• sit-ins were ENTIRELY PUBLIC
  [] easier access for the media to report on the sit-ins and show the violence of white people against black people
  [] this wasn’t possible in demonstrations like boycotts, since boycotts were focused on staying away and were not confrontational like sit-ins
• some white southerners joined CORE and SNCC
  [] shows shift in support for civil rights and the importance of publicity for social change
• sparked demonstrations across the country for the desegregation of lunch counters and then other public spaces later on

Question 4

Describe the set-up of SNCC and what SNCC did

Answer 4

• CORE and SCLC sent people to train students in non-violent protest
• Ella Baker from SCLC held a meeting with students on the 15th of April 1960 to set up SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee)
• SNCC’s values were:
  [] show the oppressor to be as violent as possible through one’s own non-violence
  [] do not rise to provocation
  [] demonstrate peacefully and visibly
• SNCC provided training and aid to student sit-in groups in coping with hostility during demonstrations

Question 5

What were the Freedom Rides ?

Answer 5

• initially organised by CORE activists in 1961 (7 black, 6 white)
• took the buses from the north to the deep south to ‘test’ if desegregation of the buses and bus facilities was actually happening despite the law being passed in 1956
  [] they KNEW it wasn’t happening and hoped to provoke an extreme reaction from the white racists in the deep south

Question 6

Describe the events of the first freedom rides in May 1961

Answer 6

• 4th May 1961, CORE activists (7 black, 6 white) left Washington DC on two different buses
• got as far as Georgia without much trouble
  [] Georgia’s governor urged calm, as didn’t want a bad reputation for reaction to the Freedom Riders
• the first bus reached Anniston, Alabama on the 15th of May
  [] 100+ KKK members surrounded the bus
  [] smashed windows, slashed tyres, threw firebomb inside and held doors shut - white policeman forced open and passengers escaped just before explosion
  [] Freedom Riders were beat up as soon as they were off the bus
  [] the white policeman fired his gun in the air and the mob eventually dispersed
  [] one of the Riders with the most severe injuries was driven to the hospital and the other 12 were taken by ambulance, refusing to go unless the black Riders were allowed with the white ones
  [] the mob rejoined and followed them to Anniston Memorial Hospital - the doctors nearly gave the Freedom Riders to the mob to make them go away but didn’t - HOWEVER didn’t allow the Freedom Riders to spend the night
  [] one of the Riders put in frantic calls to CORE contacts to arrange help to get away, and was put in contact with Fred Shuttlesworth of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) who drove the Riders to Birmingham airport
• the second bus reached Anniston on the same day without knowledge of what happened to those on the other bus, and were pulled off at Anniston and beaten up by the KKK
  [] got back on the bus, which drove to Birmingham, then were pulled off again and beaten by more KKK
  [] the chief of police, Bull Connor instructed the police to do nothing to stop the KKK
  [] Fred Shuttlesworth again drove these Riders to the airport too
• caused MASSIVE media coverage and was an embarrassment to the US internationally

Question 7

Describe the second Freedom Rides, organised by SNCC a few days after the CORE Freedom Rides had ended

Answer 7

• 17th May, 10 SNCC activists took the bus from Tennessee to Birmingham, Alabama
  [] the negative press made the US government force governor Patterson of Alabama to get the Riders safely to Montgomery (no bus driver would take them further)
• as soon as the bus reached the border of Montgomery, the police escorts left the Riders alone
  [] 1000+ mob of KKK were waiting for the Riders and beat them
  [] policeman had to fire gun in air to stop violence
  [] mob roamed Montgomery, attacking black people and setting one black boy on fire
  [] police arrested Riders for inciting a riot

Question 8

How many Freedom Rides took place over the summer of 1961 ?

Answer 8

60+

NOTE: during these arrests, state governors resorted to simply arresting Riders, which was not stopped by the Federal government, likely because they didn’t want backlash about interfering in state politics, and because (supposedly) no one was hurt in this way as opposed to getting beaten and killed by the KKK and WCC mobs

Question 9

What was the (legal) outcome of the Freedom Rides ?

Answer 9

1st November 1961, federal government said would send in federal officers to enforce desegregation if states didn’t do this themselves

Question 10

Describe the events and significance of the James Meredith case, 1962

Answer 10

• James Meredith (black) applied to ‘Ole Miss’ university in 1961 and was rejected in May of the same year
• Meredith reapplied in 1962
  [] NAACP objected to his rejection, claiming it was on racially discriminatory grounds
  [] Supreme Court ordered Ross Barnett (state governor of Mississippi) to admit Meredith to Ole Miss
• Barnett and university officials disobeyed the Supreme Court ruling by physically stopping Meredith from entering
• 30th September, Meredith and ~500 federal officials returned to register
  [] 3000+ strong armed mob, many WCC members, attacked the officers and Meredith
  [] state police did little to stop or control the growth and violence of the mob
• President Kennedy went on television to call for peace and was ignored
  [] then sent in federal troops to stop the violence
• 2 civilians were killed and hundreds were (severely) injured
• Meredith registered at Ole Miss on the 1st of October 1962 and was guarded by federal troops the whole year it took for him to graduate
• NOTE: THIS CAUSED MASSIVE PUBLICITY AND WAS EXTREMELY HUMILIATING FOR THE US GOVERNMENT

Question 11

Give the key reasons for progress in civil rights from 1960-62

Answer 11

• commitment of protesters despite threats to their health, livelihoods and safety
  [] all of these threats and attacks also generated publicity for the cause
• federal intervention forced when protesters like the Freedom Rider’s kept going with the protests, and when mass violence was provoked from white people despite the non-violence of the protesters
  [] caused massive international embarrassment for the government and put pressure on them to make lasting change in civil rights
• CORE and SNCC trained protestors in non-violence
• media were informed about campaigns, helping to spread publicity and awareness
• campaigns were organised in such a way to provoke the most extreme, unreasonable white violence possible