Final answer:
The civil rights movement, particularly through actions led by Ella Baker and the SNCC, challenged systemic racism in the restaurant industry by advocating for economic and social justice beyond desegregation.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the lecture, the movement seen as a challenge to systemic racism in the context of the restaurant industry is rooted in the historical context of the civil rights movement. This movement aimed to address not just the immediate act of being allowed to dine in segregated restaurants but also the broader issues of economic inequality and empowerment. Ella Baker and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) emphasized that actions such as the sit-ins were about “more than a hamburger,” signifying a fight for equality that extended beyond basic civil rights to include economic and social justice.
The SNCC, along with other civil rights activists, utilized various nonviolent strategies such as sit-ins, sleep-ins, read-ins, and pray-ins to protest segregation and inequality. Their efforts were instrumental in desegregating public accommodations across multiple cities and served as a crucial step toward challenging the systemic racism ingrained in many societal institutions, including the restaurant industry.