A PROTEST TO BE NOTICED
By Parker
The seventh- and eighth-grade class went to the Deep South for its experiential Mountain School Trip. One specific place we went to was a museum in Atlanta, GA called the Center for Civil and Human Rights. In this museum, there was a simulation for the student sit-ins that took place during the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s. We experienced a simulation of the student Sit-Ins.
When we experienced this, there was a voice that said he would kill us if we didn’t get up. The simulation was so real that it put hot air against your ear to make it seem like he was standing right next to you. You could hear bottles smashing, and I inferred that these bottles were being smashed on my head. The chairs would shake and bob up and down to simulate people shaking the chairs to scare you before they did anything drastic. In the end, you hear sirens, and then a voice explains that this is what it was like to participate in the student sit-ins that happened during the Civil Rights movement.
After the simulation, I couldn’t stop thinking about how horribly people were treated just for sitting at a lunch counter. At the five second mark, there were people that came into the restaurant and started laughing, and I immediately wanted to remove my headphones. When we were learning about the student Sit-Ins, it was very sad, but since it wasn’t hands-on, I couldn’t really relate. But when we experienced the simulation, I immediately became overwhelmed with sadness because of how terribly people were treated. This helped me understand the horror people faced when they were trying to get their rights.
When we experienced this, there was a voice that said he would kill us if we didn’t get up. The simulation was so real that it put hot air against your ear to make it seem like he was standing right next to you. You could hear bottles smashing, and I inferred that these bottles were being smashed on my head. The chairs would shake and bob up and down to simulate people shaking the chairs to scare you before they did anything drastic. In the end, you hear sirens, and then a voice explains that this is what it was like to participate in the student sit-ins that happened during the Civil Rights movement.
After the simulation, I couldn’t stop thinking about how horribly people were treated just for sitting at a lunch counter. At the five second mark, there were people that came into the restaurant and started laughing, and I immediately wanted to remove my headphones. When we were learning about the student Sit-Ins, it was very sad, but since it wasn’t hands-on, I couldn’t really relate. But when we experienced the simulation, I immediately became overwhelmed with sadness because of how terribly people were treated. This helped me understand the horror people faced when they were trying to get their rights.