Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Exploration 6:Nashville

I think the movie about Nashville's non-violent, direct-action approach to desegregation was very powerful. The students that were involved were courageous and are the one's who eventually took things into their own hands. It all began when a group of black students went into a restaurant and sat there. They went two weeks without any incidents and then gangs emerged and got themselves involved. They beat the black students and the police did not get involved. I think the blacks knew that things would get bad but they were prepared to remain true to their non-violent commitment. Those black students were arrested and waves of them continued to come into the restaurant to take their places. From this point on things continued to get bad, but they never once gave up their fight.
I think the most memorable part was when it was said, "When the marchers came closer to town, it was silent except for the sound of feet." This is when Diane Nash asked the Mayor if he thought it was wrong to discriminate against a person solely based on their skin color. And admitted, Yes, it is wrong. This was the main turning point and the most memorable one. The whole story was educational. I didn't know this went on for so long and everything that went into it. There were a lot of people involved and a lot of people who really helped the blacks fight for their rights.
There were also a lot of good sources in the story. Diane Nash interested me because she explained her experiences in a way that it felt like you were there. And she was only eighteen years old when all of this was happening, it was really good to see someone her age fight for what she believes in. I'm not sure you'd see people come together like that these days. All of the people that witnessed and were involved with this had good stories to tell. When Jim Zwerg, a freedom rider, beaten and in his hospital bed said, "We're going to keep coming until we can ride from one place in the south to another place in the south, until we can do it without any comments. We are American Citizens." It's really amazing that he, and many others that had been badly beaten, would die for their rights and freedom.

5 comments:

  1. I agree, I thought the quote of the crowds silence and all you could hear was their footsteps was very moving. I think that for it to take college students to finally make a stand and try to change society, it took tremendous courage and motive. At the time those students were criticized but today, we should view them as heros. I also agree with you on the turning point. When the mayor stated that it was unethical to treat a person differently soley based on their skin color, it made a difference to the town because he was following his heart and his morals, not his political stance. That is important because he was an icon to the town that had an important voice and for him to say that, it made an impact to the black society for the good. I believe people were so upset by it because deep down, they knew in their hearts it was the right thing to do, they just couldnt face it at that time.

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  3. I agree that Mayor West's statement was the definite turning point within the movement. He finally took a stand and made a decision on segregation. I think Diane Nash is a good role model. At 18 years old she stood up and fought for what was right. Not many teenages now and days would do that.

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  4. I think it was so admirable how they were non violent in this tough time. Also, I cannot believe how young some of the freedom riders were. It is really cool to think that young people have had such an impact on our nations history, and it makes me feel empowered as a young adult. These students were courageous, and I look up to them for that.

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  5. The silence must have been very powerful. I think it must have been very hard for some blacks to just take the beatings and not fight back it took a lot of courage and bravery for the blacks to stick to the non-violent way and go after what they wanted. I thought Diane Nash was a very important person during this direct action. She took her own action by asking the mayor the question about segregation being morally right or not. And it really opened Mayor West's eyes. I loved how jim Zwerg joined the blacks. I think there need to be more people in the world like him. He could have died but he didn't care. He stood for something and didn't back down.

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