When you look back at the people who made up our history, what important figures do you see? George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. are just a few people that made an impact on what America is today. What we don't generally think about is young people making a difference and standing up for what they believe in.
On February 1, 1960, four boys in college were able to make a mark in history. The black college students decided to sit down silently at a white- only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina until it closed that night. This was an attempt to protest the segregation going on in the 1960s. This sit-in led to similar protests and support from other states and even some white people as well.
It is said that the protests that these four young people initiated helped to promote the civil rights movement and integration of public places. Without these teenagers taking a stand for what they believed in, many other people - especially young people - would not have been encouraged to do the same. There were many other times in history and the current day that prove that teenagers have the power to speak out and protest for what they think is right.
When Ifirst read this article about the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, another event that I heard about that involved young people with similar motives came to mind. Ten years after the sit-ins, once again, several college students decided to take a stand. On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, students were protesting America's invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. These students were protesting by chanting on campus, but the scene did not include any violence on the students' part. However, the guards on campus that day turned these protests into a tragedy. The guardsmen fired their guns at the protesting students as well as some students just watching or passing by. Of these students, four were killed and nine others were left wounded. This event, known as the Kent State massacre, is related to the Greensboro sit-ins in many ways, despite their very different outcomes.
These events of 1960 and 1970 were both caused by teenagers deciding that they had to speak their minds and stand up for what they knew was wrong. These college students that took part in the Greensboro sit-ins and the Kent State massacre obviously knew that when it came to protesting, violence was not the answer, because they both initiated non-violent protests.
The students involved in both events did not do anything to harm or disturb anyone at Woolworth's restaurant in North Carolina or on the campus of Kent State University. What is remembered most about the protests in Ohio in 1970 is the result of them. Instead of a rise of support that the `'Greensboro Four'' received, the protesters were shot and killed by guards on campus. Although it does not seem like it, the sit-ins of 1960 got a similar response. After the first sit-in in North Carolina, the protesting spread to other cities. In some cities, such as Jacksonville, Florida, police officers tried to stop the protesters with tear gas and ire hoses, and some white people beat them with ax handles and baseball bats. This shows how in both cases, the non-violent protests of the students and other participants caused a violent reaction. Even though none of the college students involved with either protest did anything aggressive or illegal, guards and policemen of America were still violent. This means that in both cases, the government was interfering with the freedom of speech of these American citizens. To me, the most important connection of all between these two events is that teenagers had the courage to protest to the public, and they definitely all made a mark in history.
Even today, in 2011, the young people of America have continued to protest and speak their opinion. Last February, in New York City, many students protested to the state government. They were angered by the New York's mayor's decision to close schools that the school board believed were failing. The students protested by shouting and chanting during one of the school board's meetings in New York.
Although they took place over 50 years after, these modern-day protests are very similar to the protests made in Greensboro in 1960. All of these teenagers obviously had enough courage to speak their minds, but that does not mean they were entirely confident. In both articles that I read explaining these events, it mentioned how the protesters did not think their efforts would have any affect. The New York students knew the government would not change their mind because of their chanting. The four black teenagers who took part in the sit-ins even expected to be arrested or killed. The Greensboro sit-ins ended up having a very different outcome than what they expected, however, the New York protests were not as successful. There is one thing that both groups of teenagers accomplished, which was that they were able to protest without having to use violence to prove their point. Instead, the students chose shouting, chanting, or just being silent as their way of protesting. Besides the fact that the two protests had different results, the protests were related in many ways.
During the protests in New York City, a 16 year-old boy said, `'We want to show that our voices can be heard too." I think this is what really connects all of these events that occurred in America. All of these teenagers that were involved in the Greensboro sit-ins, the Kent State massacre, and the recent protests against the closing schools had the motive of wanting to take a stand. They didn't want to be violent and hurt anybody, and they didn't have any idea if their actions would make a difference. However, they were all able to show that young people can make a mark in history and can be remembered for something they did. The fact that teenagers led all of these protests that I've spoken of is very hard to believe, but that is why I related them to each other. They prove that young people can, and did stand up for what they believe in.