Dining For Change

Greensboro Sit-Ins

S. J. Walker

THROUGHOUT MY LIFE, I have dined out for occasions of various importance.  Birthdays, celebrations, socialising with friends. Sometimes, it’s to try the new restaurant that just opened up, and sometimes, it’s just an attempt to evade Mum’s cooking. But never have I dined out with the intention to defy the status quo, and incite profound cultural change. 

It is, after all, an ultimatum I am fortunate to have never been faced with. But in truth, it is also an incredible act of courage that, if it were the case, I am not sure I would be able to muster the courage to do. 

When they crossed the line that separated the general store from the dining area in the F.W. Woolworths store in Greensboro, Fibreel Khazan, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain and David Richmond did so with the knowledge that it could result in getting arrested, beaten or killed. Their sit-in attests to a paradigm of the Civil Rights Movement that seems to underpin all of our

speeches, regardless of their focus; and that is the willingness with which African-American protestors relinquished their safety so that they could contribute toward a larger cause. 

Starting with four students, the participants at the Greensboro sit-in grew to 23 by the second day, 66 by the third, 100 by the fourth and 1,000 by the fifth day. Within two months, similar sit-ins had occurred in fifty-four cities and nine different states. As one protestor put it, “That dime store was the birthplace of a whirlwind”. 

When asked to describe his recollection of the F.W. Woolworths store in Greensboro, Jibreel Khazan spoke of the whir of the soda machine, how his tie had stiffened around his neck with sweat, and the smell of egg salad sandwiches that filled the room. Above all, he remembered the silence and unease that followed the moment he and fellow students Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain and David Richmond crossed into the dining area from which African-Americans were forbidden.

Creating a legacy of social change, the Greensboro Sit-Ins are often overlooked for their role in the broader US Civil Rights Movement. It garnered such media attention that it would catalyse future defiance against racial prejudice in the US and become a stark step towards broader socio-political change.