Exploration six

In the 1960s, segregation was widely occuring in Nashville,Tennessee. The process of direct action is to openly protest with a pact of non violence. They would just take beatings and not fight back. They were taking a stand. The most memorable non-violent direct action in Nashville was the sit ins. In which four black colleges participated in going to lunch counters and sitting at the counters. The owners began to shut down the counters, but the black students still continued to sit there. Gangs of white people gave them a warning and then beat non violent black students. 80 non violent black students were arrested for disorderly conduct when doing nothing wrong. The police did absolutely nothing to help the students. After time the black community also began to stand behind the black students. During the boycotts of the downtown Nashville area, it spread to 69 cities in two months with 2000 people arrested. They continued to protest non violently. After awhile Ben West the governor of Tennessee, made a statement. Three weeks after that statement, blacks were served at the lunch counters. After that some students began the Freedom Riders striving to get rid of segregation in other parts of America. In the movie, Eyes on the Prize, we hear from many different sources. We hear from many Freedom Riders and black students that were involved in the sit ins. Jim, one of the Freedom Riders, says " segregation must be stopped; it must be broken down." I think this best describes their reason for the non-violent action and for the need of having the Freedom Riders to get rid of segregation in other places. They would die if thats what got them freedom.