Why Did The Sit In Movement Case Study

On April 18th, a bomb destroyed the home of the defense attorney for the sit-in demonstrators, Z. Alexander Looby. This led to a massive march of over 3,000 demonstrators, stretched three people wide and ten blocks long, to the City Hall in order to pray and demand answers from Mayor Ben West. West openly stated, “I appeal to all citizens to end discrimination, to have no bigotry, no bias, no discrimination”.23 Only three weeks later, on May 10th, 1960, the six targeted lunch counters were desegregated and Nashville became the first major city to desegregate facilities.24 As previously stated, Greensboro, the city that began the movement, was not desegregated until July 26th, 1960.25
Similar to Greensboro and Nashville, Atlanta was home to six

historically black colleges. Acute segregation and slavery saturated Atlanta’s history because of its location within the Deep South. The Atlanta Riot of 1906 exhibited the growing racial tensions that continued well after the Civil War and the fear that whites had of the rising black middle class. Prior to desegregation, black opportunities were concentrated within a one mile corridor, the Sweet Auburn District, which served as the downtown solely for the black community. Despite the success of the area and the coined title of “the richest Negro street in the world”, African Americans could not forget that behind the success was segregation.26
A few months earlier, in March of 1960, Atlanta students had formed the Committee on Appeal Human Rights (COAHR). On March 9th, the COAHR students published “An Appeal for Human Rights,” which detailed the specific injustices of segregation and simultaneously challenged the older leaders of the Atlanta black community on their slow strategies of negotiation.27 Shortly after, on March 15th, 1960, the first series of Atlanta sit-ins dominated by students were initiated, following the same method as Nashville. In the end, despite all intentions, Atlanta lagged behind other cities in desegregating local institutions. Ultimately, on March 7, 1961, elders in the black community made an arrangement that desegregation would occur at certain lunch counters the following fall along with the court ordered integration of local schools. The student leaders objected the delay and felt betrayed by the elders within the community but ultimately consented Dr. Martin Luther King urged Atlanta to resist the “cancerous disease of disunity. If anyone breaks this contract, let it be the white man”.28 Essentially, this demonstrated that the elders of the black community and the young student leaders lacked the unity and organization of Nashville, which resulted in tension within the black community. This lack of coherence caused Atlanta to fall behind and take much longer to achieve its goals.
In other cities, like Jacksonville, FL, the sit-in movement was even less effective and more dangerous.

In contrast, Jacksonville was not considered a center of education, and its sit in movement utilized high school students more prominently than Nashville, Greensboro or Atlanta. In 1960, Jacksonville had a population of 372,600 with over 100,000 black individuals (27%). Even though Jacksonville had one of the highest urban concentrations of blacks, there was still intense segregation that was endorsed at all levels of society; from store owners to the government.29 For example, Sugar Hill use to be a prestigious community of African Americans, similar to the Sweet Auburn District of Atlanta. It was a streetcar suburb that directly connected it to downtown Jacksonville. In the 1950’s, the neighborhood found itself in the “path for progress” or the new Jacksonville Expressway. The city officials thought this project would help clean up the cities urban core. The expressway ruined the African American business district and forced African Americans out of their homes and into housing projects.30 This heated the already intense racial friction and set the stage for African Americans concentrating into the whiter downtown

area.
The first sit-in was staged on March 13th, 1960 and a few others occurred throughout the spring without success. In mid-July, the NAACP began to organize students of local high schools and Edward Waters College for a new sit in campaign in the fall. Training sessions for the students began under the leadership of Rutledge Pearson. This training emphasized ‘knowing your rights’ from lawyers and Christian principles of non-violence by ministers. In contrast to Nashville’s training, there was not enough of a significant effort to prepare students for extreme violent confrontation. 31
On August 13th, eighty-two sit-in participants entered the Jacksonville Woolworth Department Store and began the first organized protest. They were largely ignored and not served, there were no arrests, and there was no news coverage of the event the next day. Despite the high possibility for racial violence, there was complete absence of law-enforcement protection so adult leaders in the NAACP were careful to recognize threats. In contrast to the non-violent NAACP and sit-in demonstrators, Jacksonville was also home of more active Ku Klux Klan activity and “Boomerangs”. The Boomerangs were a gang of black males primarily from the Joseph Blodgett Housing project, created by the destruction of Sugar Hill. One Boomerang stated, “If a cracker hits me, I’m going to try and kill him”, which encapsulated their more violent approach. On August 27th, 1960, the sit-in participants rounded the corner towards Grant’s they saw a mob of white men with ax handles and baseball bats. Soon, the Boomerang force came to protect the Youth Council members.32 The extreme violence on Ax Handle Saturday and the lack of intervention by the government led the short three-weeks of protesting to a stand still and forced the black population shift to boycotting instead.33 
 So, why were the Nashville’s sit-ins so successful in comparison to many other southern cities? First off, it is important to look at the population of Nashville. Nashville was first populated mainly by free blacks and whites, indentured servants and enslaved blacks. This resulted in a diverse population whose prosperity was based on small farms and not large plantations, in contrast to the more southern states. This socioeconomic structure allowed for the development of white and black elites and the corollary institutions, such as independent black churches and universities. Nashville became quickly regarded as the “Athens of the South,” and inherently developed a progressive and refined culture that was atypical for most southern societies.34 The formation of black universities and independent black churches facilitated the extreme organization, unification, disciplined training and execution among the entire black community. While Greensboro was able to initiate the movement, it lacked the initial methodology and organization that Nashville had prepared for almost a year in advance. Atlanta attempted to follow the methods of Nashville, but it lacked the unity between the adult and student leaders within the city. This caused the movement to move much slower and ultimately be less successful. Lastly, Jacksonville’s extremely high concentration of blacks evoked more fear and violence from the white population. In the end, the intervention of violent groups, such as the Boomerangs and the Ku Klux Klan, combined with the lack of intervention by the police, forced the black population to use different methods in order to avoid excessive brutality.
In conclusion, it is evident that urban renewal in the mid-1900’s reinforced segregation within Greensboro, Nashville, Atlanta and Jacksonville. In addition, each of these cities used the non-violent approach of sit-ins to to combat the oppression. However, each city reaped very different complications and results. Because of the unique leaders within Nashville, Nashville was able to anticipate and properly prepare for the sit in movement in a way that no other city could compete. The amalgamation of Nashville’s location, socioeconomic history, foundation of independent black universities and churches, united black community that stemmed from these institutions, and preparatory actions allowed Nashville to act quickly after Greensboro. All of these factors allowed Nashville to gain integration at the lunch counters within four months and set an example for other cities to follow.