This Week In Southern History: February 1, 1960-The Greensboro 4 Orchestrate Sit-Ins at Woolworths

This Week in Southern History, we go all the way back to February 1st, 1960, and here’s what the world looked like then!:

In the most remarkable comeback in the tournament's history, Arnold Palmer erases a seven-stroke deficit and goes on to win his first and only US Open.

One of cinema’s best-known moments occurs when Norman Bates murders Marion Crane in a shower, a scene so terrifying it caused actor Janet Leigh to switch to baths for the rest of her life. Geez… what a Psycho! (I’m sorry)

Black people in 1960, as per usual, were living out an actual horror film, and on February 1st, 4 of them had had enough. This week, in southern history, Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil staged The Greensboro Sit-in.

For those unfamiliar, a sit-in is a form of protest in which demonstrators occupy a place, refusing to leave until their demands are met. I have actually attempted a few of these in my day, but unfortunately, the girl behind the counter at Taco Bell cant make Mexican Pizzas magically return to the menu no matter how drunk about it I get. Unlike me, however, The Greensboro 4 had actual important issues at hand.

Now I know that there are some people out there constantly jawing off about how much better it would be were this country to go back to operating as it did in the ’60s, and if you need something to point to as the reasoning for why these assholes are almost exclusively white, for starters you could try the fact that Black people and white people were often not allowed to eat in the same restaurant back then.

While segregation isn’t some new revelation, I do think that it is still important to bring it up from time to time, if only to remind us that this was not that long ago. Michael Stipe, Oliver Platt, Mark Rylance, Greg Louganis, Marty Janetty, James Spader, Courtney B. Vance, Kirby Puckett, Marcus Allen, Buster Douglas, Terry Pendleton, Eric Dickerson were all born in 1960. And yes, in keeping with the times, I separated them by color and didn’t include any women, thanks for noticing!

One such establishment with a segregation policy in 1960 was The Woolworths in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil were all students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in their Freshman year. Inspired by the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and driven by the basic human need for common f*cking decency, the four decided that if they couldn’t get The Woolworths to serve them, then they could at least make an example out of them.

The plan was simple: They would go to Woolworths, order food, and when they were denied, refuse to leave. It’s precisely the type of non-violent protest we are told repeatedly that people are fine with (Spoiler: Some people were totally not fine with it.) Those same people also usually tell us that protests are pointless, attention-grabbing stunts and don’t cause real change. Well, someone should have told the Greensboro 4 that because, by God, the sit-ins were a success!

The next day there were 20. The day after that, there were 60. The day after that, there were 300. The day after that, there were 1600! Now I ain’t no polymath, but I believe that there is what we call exponential growth and stuff! This was not only great for local protestors in Greensboro but good for the cause everywhere because, after a month, it grabbed the attention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who said he was "deeply sympathetic with the efforts of any group to enjoy the rights of equality that they are guaranteed by the Constitution." A constitution written by slave owners, of course, but point still taken and appreciated, Ike! Now I get why people liked you!

Pretty soon, the Sit-ins weren’t limited to Greensboro as word spread to fellow southern cities like Richmond, Virginia, Lexington, Kentucky, Nashville, Tennessee, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Chattanooga, Tennessee, etc. And oh, by the way, in case you were wondering how sales were going at segregated Woolworths during this time…. their numbers were DOWN by A THIRD….. what is the opposite of “Get Woke, Go Broke”? I think it’s “Shit, y’all, we better do the right thing, or we are F***ed!” which is precisely what most Woolworths did when they decided to lift segregation policies in favor of profits. Money talks, bullshit walks, baby!

While there were still a few holdoffs (see: stubborn racist assholes), 4 years later, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandated desegregation in public accommodations. Obviously, that didn’t make everything hunky-dory all of the sudden for Black people, and it’s likely the work will never be done, but I think it’s nice to see what a group of brave men can do, and the ramifications it can have for a lifetime. Even if it’s just over a sandwich.

And also remember when people try to tell you that all that happened a long time ago…. an 18 year old Charlie Rose was allowed to eat one of those sandwiches while an 18 Year old Muhammed Ali was not.

Well done, Greensboro 4. Well done.