Civil Rights Memorial

Civil Rights Memorial. . , The Nashville Sit-ins were 4 months of peaceful protests in favor of integrating lunch counters and many other public facilities that were separated into sections for black and white citizens. Students at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Nashville and their allies wanted to see change that allowed Black citizens to eat in the same areas as white citizens. The Nashville Sit-ins entailed Black students and community members going into downtown lunch counters and patiently waiting to be served, as any white customer would be. Because of the segregation in the South at the time, this would have been unheard of. , February 1960 , In February 1960, Nashvillians began their peaceful protests. On the first day, all the stores the students went to closed within 2 hours to get protestors to leave. February 27th saw "Big Saturday," when white counter-protestors began attacking the students performing the Sit-ins. This was the most violent of the protests and led to over 70 arrests of de-segregationists; none of the Sit-in participants turned to violence, even amid being attacked., April 19, 1960 , Z. Alexander Looby's, an important lawyer in the Civil Rights Movement, Nashville home was bombed. The bombing of Looby's house sparked a march of nearly 2,000 community members to City Hall where Diane Nash famously questioned Nashville Mayor, Ben West, on the ethics of segregation. The mayor admitted that it was wrong., May 10, 1960 , Nashville was the first major U.S. city in the South to integrate its public facilities, due to the determination of the students and other non-violent protesters. These public facilities included not only lunch counters throughout the city, but also public restrooms, waiting areas, snack counters, libraries, theaters, hotels, and restaurants.