Taking a Stand by Sitting Down: The Greensboro Sit-Ins
NARRATOR: In the winter of 1960, four young men sat in a dormitory room at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State College in Greensboro. They were bright, ambitious first-year students, but they were deeply frustrated by the pervasive injustice of Jim Crow segregation.
JOSEPH: Every time we walk downtown, we are reminded of our second-class status. We can purchase school supplies at the F. W. Woolworth department store, but the moment we want to sit down at the lunch counter for a meal, we are told that Black customers are not served.
FRANKLIN: It is not just humiliating; it is wrong. We read about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the nonviolent philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We talk endlessly about civil rights in our dorm room, but talk alone will not transform society. It is time for action.
EZELL: What if we simply go to Woolworth's, purchase our items, and then sit down at the counter? If they refuse to serve us, we will remain seated until the store closes. We will be polite, well-dressed, and absolutely nonviolent.
DAVID: If we do this, we must be prepared for the consequences. We could be insulted, threatened, or arrested. But if we do nothing, nothing will ever change. Let us commit to going tomorrow morning.
- pervasive:
- Spreading widely throughout an area, group, or system.
- nonviolent:
- Seeking to achieve political or social goals peacefully without physical force.
- dignified:
- Showing composed, honorable, and respectful behavior.
- desegregated:
- Ended the practice of separating people by race in public facilities.
- entrenched:
- Firmly established and difficult to change or remove.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1Which college did the four young men attend when they planned the Greensboro sit-in?
- 2What unfair policy at the Woolworth department store frustrated Joseph and his friends?
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About this reader's theater passage for Middle School
“Taking a Stand by Sitting Down: The Greensboro Sit-Ins” is a reader's theater reading passage about Greensboro Sit-Ins and Civil Rights, written for Middle School. It takes about 4 minutes to read (596 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.