Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement

In 1960, young people on college campuses became part of the movement's leadership
and tried their own methods for promoting change. Black students held sit-ins,
requesting service at 'whites-only' lunch counters in Greensboro, North Carolina. Within
ten days the sit-ins spread to 15 southern cities. Nashville, Tennessee, became the
center for student nonviolent workshops and directed action led by James Lawson and
Diane Nash. Under attack and arrest, the students remained true to their training in
nonviolence. Local black communities supported the jailed students by boycotting
downtown stores. National boycotts were organized by the NAACP and CORE, and a
boycott by black customers in Nashville was 98% effective. The mayor of Nashville
admitted that discrimination at lunch counters was morally wrong, and three weeks
later black customers were served for the first time at formerly all-white lunch counters. 

Adapted From: 
National Civil Rights Museum. Student Sit-Ins. http:///www.mecca.org/~crights/student.html