Summary

In Chapter Five the actions of the Civil Rights activists intensify and move to Durham. College students were impatient with groups such as the NAACP, which sought gradual change in the court rooms. Many of the young activists viewed the older moderate black leaders as Uncle Toms who were still playing by the white man’s rules. The students decided to take more radical steps through non-violent direct action and their tactics were simple and effective. They sat down in white-only sections of coffee shops and restaurants in what were called lunch room sit-ins. The young activists chose Durham to launch this nation-wide campaign against Jim Crow laws because they believed that the relatively liberal business community in this city did not want any bad publicity. Therefore, it was assumed that it would be easier to win victories in Durham.

These young activists took...