Gail Horton
AAS 131
Dr. E. Davis
October 4, 2011

Student Sit-ins in Nashville, 1960
James Lawson, A theology student who decided that is was time to start a movement to stop segregation in Nashville. He and other student form a nonviolence workshop that consists of student’s witting in restaurants waiting to be service as customer. Nashville had some integrated areas school, council, board of education, police force and city buses, but hotel, libraries, theater and restaurants remained segregated. The nonviolence workshop was formed so everyone in Nashville could have a chance to enact with one another and to create a more just society. Black student was tired of segregated not been able to eat lunch and to do their homework. In November of 1959 the student planned a series of workshop to stop segregation four student went into Woolworth and sat at the lunch counter were black never sat before people look at them in disbelief and many of them were black worker. The media became of aware of what was happening day after day there were more and more students sitting in restaurants and at the lunch counter waiting to be serviced. Before long the student sit-in became cities wide at least 15-16 cities began to have though-out the South and most parts of the county. The student had some difficulty some of the student was beaten even jailed, but though it all Lawson and the students were determined to stop segregation. The purpose of the nonviolence workshop was to show the white people that the violence was the racist society which was they. The boycotts started no one came downtown the whites was afraid to come downtown and the black wouldn’t come at all. It’s no longer a student issues the community wanted racism to end business began to lose money by mid-April,1960 the sit-ins got out of control thousand had been arrested the demonstrators had thrown up the picket line around store that were discriminating. April 19, 1960 Z. Alexander looby a prominent black attorney and politician who had represented the arrested student’s home was destroyed by dynamite. The blacks were outrage and it time to march to the City Hall. The students, community, High school students and people came out of their home to join the march cars were moving slowly behind the march. The people march right up to the City Hall the people of Nashville knew they had to step up to the plate to stop all this violence over racism it has to stop. May 10, 1960 six Nashville lunch counters began serving blacks. The demonstrations didn’t stop there the theaters, hotels and restaurants in Nashville were still were segregated.
The student took the demonstrations further before long the hotels, restaurants and theaters were desegregated. Sit –ins took place in a hundred cities in 1960 then the boycott became were the people were jailed without bail. Martin Luther King returns to Atlanta he and other students took part in the movement and was arrested King was sentenced to four month on the Georgia road gang. Once again the black were outraged and got in touch with John F. Kennedy at the time he was running for president. After a talk with Kennedy about King been arrested Kennedy made it possible for King to be release for jail. Kennedy defeated Nixon and the blacks help to make it possible

The students stayed at the lunch counter even though they were denied service. The students began studying and doing homework. The students began to feel good about their decision on the sit-ins; it took lot of courage and dedication for the student to endure such treatment form white. The student were excited about making a different and standing up for their right they felt a sense of power trying to abolish segregation at the time the student had not realizes how much of a in pack the movement had on the people in Nashville and other cities. There were sit-ins in at least 15-16 cities. The student had help from other leaders from different school and cities that were involved in the sit-ins. student used the movement to their advantage to draw other to express their view on segregation.