Violence In Hemming Plaza

Violence In Hemming Plaza. Jacksonville, Florida. , It was August 27, 1960, a day that became known as “Ax Handle Saturday.” The violent attack was in response to peaceful lunch counter demonstrations organized by the Jacksonville Youth Council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The attack began with white people spitting on the protesters and yelling racial slurs at them. When the young demonstrators held their resolve, they were beaten with wooden handles that had not yet had metal ax heads attached. While the violence was first aimed at the lunch counter demonstrators, it quickly escalated to include any African American in sight of the white mob. Police stood idly by watching the beatings until members of a black street gang called “The Boomerangs” attempted to protect those being attacked. At that point police night sticks joined the baseball bats and ax handles. , , Sixteen-year-old Rodney L. Hurst was president of the Jacksonville Youth Council leading sit-ins at “whites only” lunch counters in Woolworth’s and W.J. Grant Department Store to protest racial segregation. Hurst has written about his experiences in the award-winning book, “It was Never about a Hot Dod and a Coke.” History teacher Rutledge Pearson inspired Hurst to become involved in the civil rights movement at a very early age. Pearson was an innovative teacher who facilitated interactive classes, and talked about American history as he gave insights, he would say, ‘freedom is not free, and if you are not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.’ He would encourage them to join the Youth Council NAACP which they did.” , , It is believed that the Ku Klux Klan organized the violence of Ax Handle Saturday. The intent was to scare, intimidate, and bring physical harm. Many times you could not draw a line between the Klan and law enforcement, because law enforcement were at least accomplices to a lot of the things the Klan did. While the events of Ax Handle Saturday were documented in Life Magazine and newspapers from major cities across the country, reporters from the Jacksonville Times-Union and the Jacksonville Journal were not allowed to cover the story.