The 1950s had shown many people who were campaigning for civil rights that getting the law changed wasn’t enough. During the 1960s, the civil rights movement shifted tactics, turning to mass-participation protest movements to get its message across. Here are some of the protest methods they used:
Sit-ins
* These were used against businesses who refused to serve black people. The first sit-in took place in Greensboro, North Carolina, in February 1960, when four students were refused service at the food counter of a department store.
* They were soon joined by other protesters, who all took care to dress smartly and behave in a civil manner. The sit in spread to food stores in other cities and states.
* It was a simple tactic that could be deployed wherever a business or place that refused black people entry or service. The popularity of the sit-ins gained the movement a lot of public attention, and brought increasing numbers of people into actively participating in the civil rights movement.
Freedom Rides
These were organized to bring about desegregation of interstate bus travel. Often the freedom riders were arrested for disturbing the peace, and in some cases were attacked by white protesters, beaten by the police or subjected to inhumane jail conditions. But the protesters persisted and forced some states to desegregate their bus services.