What term describes nonviolent protests where demonstrators occupy a place and refuse to leave?

• A. Freedom Rides
• B. Sit-ins
• C. March on Washington
• D. Freedom Summer

Answer: (B)

Sit-ins are a form of nonviolent direct action in which people occupy a space—such as a lunch counter, library, or other public facility—and refuse to leave until access or service is desegregated. This tactic centers on peaceful civil disobedience: participants deliberately break unjust segregation by occupying the space and staying put, drawing public attention to the injustice and pressuring establishments or authorities to change policies. The approach emerged in the Civil Rights Movement, most famously starting with the Greensboro sit-ins of 1960, where students sat at a Woolworth’s lunch counter and refused to leave, sparking widespread demonstrations and new momentum for desegregation efforts. The method relies on discipline and nonviolence, often leading to arrests and media coverage that highlight the moral force of the protesters’ demand.

The other options refer to different forms of protest. Freedom Rides challenged segregation in interstate travel by activists riding buses into the South to test compliance with desegregation orders, not by occupying a place and staying. The March on Washington was a large-scale rally and demonstration aimed at advocating for civil and economic rights, not a sit-down occupation. Freedom Summer focused on registering Black voters in Mississippi, a political organizing effort rather than occupying a space to demand service or access.