The desegregation efforts of Tennessee schools in the 1950s encouraged African Americans to push for more rights. As a result, the leaders of civil rights movements progressed beyond courts and learning institutions. Some whites assisted the people of color in engaging in the marketplace and street activities to break segregation walls, leading to a tragic and triumphant story. Sit-in demonstration strategies were not new because they had been utilized in the 1950s. However, the behavior of southern states in the early 1950s significantly impacted the civil rights movements. This prompted several African Americans students to sit in on February 1, 1960, in North Carolina, which ignited responses in the entire South. The act, which would be termed as simple, deviated Nashville’s laws and customs by holding the meeting at an all-white lunch counter. There were four people of color colleges in the area, which assured the movement of brave and dedicated civil rights advocates and leaders such as attorneys and clergy.
The heads of the groups organized Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) in early 1958. This organization established a non-violence program spearheaded by Rev. James Lawson from 1958 to 1959. Additionally, NCLC adopted the downtown lunch counters’ desegregation in early 1959. The organization tried to negotiate with different traders, although their efforts were unsuccessful. In late 1959, the movement staged two distinct sit-ins at various stores, which confirmed that African Americans would not be served on lunch counters. Therefore, a catalyst was required to launch the Nashville movement, and the Greensboro sit-ins provided it. Before the end of February in 1960, four different demonstrations were conducted at the downtown stores. The number of African Americans participating in the meetings had significantly increased compared to those held before. However, the February 27 demonstrations were characterized by violence and arrests. Seventy-five students were arrested, but none of the white agitators were sized.
The photograph on page 307 illustrates individuals with different emotions and characteristics. These people of color face the contrary sides, with some females smiling while the males have dull faces and are possibly unhappy. Additionally, these African American men seem to be in deep thoughts. However, Black female students are facing the white person to adhere to the rules of being friendly while at the counter. There are other people of color at the corner of the counter whose eyes are focused on the white person sitting close to the African Americans. There are also two whites comfortably walking inside the lunch counter and can be described as being in high spirits.