James Lawson

James Lawson and Nonviolent Direct Action
Despite efforts to garner legislative equality for African Americans after the Civil War, the actual implementation of change did not occur for some time later. The 13th and 14th Amendments, which ended slavery and granted the rights of citizenship to black Americans, were often ineffectual in promoting racial justice. Throughout the following decades, race relations struggled against the remnants of Jim Crow to the forefront of American social issues, but as an ethnic minority blacks continued to be denied many basic rights. By the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the advent of war combined with the Student Movement as well as the heightened social and economic climate to influence the greatest Civil Rights Movement of the 20th Century. Some, like the Black Panthers and Malcolm X’s Nation of Islam, agitated for racial equality with extremism and violence, but others, like Martin Luther King Junior, used the practice of civil disobedience to rally public support. As one of the leading theoreticians behind nonviolent direct action and an influential religious figure, James Lawson was fundamental to the unification and development of the Civil Rights movement. Without him the struggle for black rights would have lacked its clear strategy and moral purpose with which to combat discrimination. From Ohio to Tennessee, Lawson was an integral part of many organizations at every level including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Nashville Christian Leadership Council (Limbo, 159). With the principles of nonviolence as his tools, Lawson used the Nashville sit-in movement to help end segregation by mobilizing and inspiring the masses in the pursuit of greater racial equality. Owing to a fairly politically and religiously involved family, James Lawson was conditioned from an early age to engage in the social issues of American society. James Lawson Senior was an African Methodist Episcopal Zion minister, who became one of first few black men to graduate from McGill University. As an itinerant minister, he took his family to various places in order to establish new congregations. Quite notably, he set up chapters for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League1 wherever he went. Unlike his son James Lawson, who had decidedly peaceful ideologies, his father had a very different approach as a militant Civil Rights activist. To his children, James Lawson Senior preached what was called the “gospel of liberation,” a belief that absolute retaliation in defense of verbal or physical attack was necessary to the cause of civil rights (“James M. Lawson, Jr.”). Apart from religious devotion, Lawson Senior also taught his son that it was the church’s responsibility to deliver justice in life, which translated into the struggle for African American rights to both father and son. Lawson’s mother Philane on the other hand, taught him about nonviolence in the face of discrimination. She felt that force was an ineffective means of protest in any case. Lawson learned this lesson when he was 10 years old while running an errand for his mother. As he made his way past a parked car, a white boy around 5 or 6 years old yelled, “Hey, nigger!” to which Lawson responded to by slapping the boy. Upon hearing the story from Lawson, Philane asked him, “What good did that do, Jimmy?” illustrating to Lawson that his violent revenge no more solved the race issue than before (Limbo, 160). No doubt, it was his childhood background and the exposure to both his father and mother’s line of thoughts that influenced James Lawson Junior as he became involved in the struggle for black civil liberties. Overall, however, it was most likely the philosophy of Mohandas K. Gandhi who most affected James Lawson Junior’s way of thought. Gandhi’s ideals and Lawson’s dedication to pacifism led to Lawson’s protest of the Korean War, his stance as a conscientious objector, and his eventual arrest for defying the draft. Back at home, Lawson read of Gandhi’s successes with peaceful protest through local editorials such as the Local Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier. Such stories prompted his first sit-in in his high school years when he and a friend asked to be served at a Massillon restaurant, only to be told not to come back again. In defiance, Lawson was determined to confront many other white-only establishments through Methodist youth meetings in small Midwestern cities. After these protests, Lawson discovered that the frame of mind in many institutions remained similar to the old prejudices of the South. Using religion as a vehicle for his efforts, Lawson continued to engage himself even more deeply with the Civil Rights movement. First among his decisions was his choice to join the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), both of which supported nonviolent passive resistance in the face of prejudice and racism. During his time at Baldwin-Wallace, Lawson became acquainted with none other than the pacifist A.J. Muste, the creator of FOR and the man who first provided Lawson with the historical and theoretical foundations for his beliefs. Through A.J. Muste, Lawson also met Glen Smiley, James Farmer, and Bayard Rustin, who all shared his beliefs of civil disobedience (“James M. Lawson, Jr.”). In April of 1953, the Methodist Church afforded James Lawson the chance to travel to India as a missionary. He arrived in Nagpur and was stationed at the British Presbyterian school Hislop College where he studied the principles of nonviolent resistance known as satyagraha with Gandhi’s former students (“James M. Lawson Jr.” and Limbo, 157). His sojourn in India lasted until 1956 so that he could further his studies of Gandhi. After 3 years he visited several areas of Africa including South Africa to witness the rising anti-colonial sentiment and the ensuing developments. Lawson was able to combine his knowledge of these foreign countries with religion and history to more effectively reach his listeners. He inspired many by comparing the fight for black rights to the Jews against the Nazis and the Indians against the British. At the same time, he paid special attention to emphasizing historical persecution and its peaceful resisters by example of the Bible and the colonial William Penn. John Lewis, a student under Lawson who was inspired to become a prominent Civil Rights activist, once remarked that “To learn that the tension between what was right and what was wrong that had torn at me since I was old enough to think [and to learn] that people of all cultures and all ages had struggled with the same issues, it was mind blowing.” To great effect, it was this worldly and broad historical view of social turmoil that made James Lawson and his proceedings in the Civil Rights Movement so monumental. Even more importantly, this perspective would ultimately shape how he approached the struggle for black liberties, as he endeavored to create a “nonviolent laboratory” back in the United States (Crosby, 173). When James Lawson returned to the United States, he was contacted by Martin Luther King Junior who heard of Lawson’s extensive studies in nonviolent resistance. Martin Luther King, Jr. then asked Lawson to share his knowledge in Nashville, where he believed it was very much needed. Lawson honored King’s request by enrolling at Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School and settling in Nashville, where the Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC), the local branch of the SCLC, had emerged in January of 1958. At first, NCLC’s primary motives kept to the aims of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) by initiating a Voters’ Crusade and Youth March for Integrated Schools (Lovett, 120-1). It was Reverend Kelley Smith’s opinion, however, that their affiliate organization could be used more directly to confront racial injustices (Limbo, 159). Thus, in March of 1958 Smith informed his congregation that Lawson would host a workshop from the 26th to the 28th at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church on “Christian non-violence and love.” Central to Lawson’s nonviolent beliefs was the concept of agape love: “loving a neighbor for his own sake and not on account of that person’s friendliness,” which he used to demonstrate the extent of tolerance and suffering protesters must overcome in order to create what they envisioned as their ideal “beloved community” (Lovett, 121-2 and Limbo, 166). Lawson’s workshops were supported by Glen Smiley and Anna Holden, another member of FOR. In time, however, the workshops were moved to Clark Memorial Methodist Church so that college students from Fisk and Tennessee State could also participate (Lovett, 122). Also close to Nashville’s American Baptist Theological Seminary and Meharry Medical School, the location of this second church proved exemplary for the recruitment of black community members to the Civil Rights cause (Morris, 176). The workshops were held on Monday nights for 3-hour sessions, during which participants ran different protest scenarios and learned how best to respond (Lovett, 122 and Crosby, 174). Come the fall of 1958, the workshops grew even more organized, and Lawson began to issue outlines on protest protocol as well as suggested reading on Christian pacifism, Eastern philosophy, Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience,” and various works by Leo Tolstoy (Limbo, 164). Eventually, Lawson was made the chair of NCLC’s Project Committee, coordinating the coming sit-ins and the training for all participants (Morris, 176). Among these rules, protesters could not swear, strike back, leave one’s seat, laugh, block aisles or entrances, or speak with floor managers. All complaints were to be taken up with the leader in charge and all sit-in demonstrators must be polite and maintain eye contact with any attacker. In October of 1959, many of Lawson’s followers formed the Nashville Student Movement (NSM) as a select group focused on nonviolent protest in Nashville (Lovett, 122). On November 28 and December 5 of 1959, Lawson’s disciples staged their first test runs for the upcoming sit-in. After careful planning, they decided to target Harvey’s department store and Cain-Sloan, where African American customers could shop, but not have lunch at the counter. Because it was determined that black patronage constituted 10-15% of the business at downtown stores, they hoped to make both a social and economic statement with their demonstration. NCLC not only believed they could unite the black community against a common enemy, but they also felt they could garner outside sympathy given that whites could understand the injustice that blacks paid their share equally but were denied equal services. After the first test run, which resulted in refused service, NCLC came together and discussed a further plan of action. Lawson suggested that they recruit more volunteers by expanding their workshops and wrote a letter asking both downtown stores to voluntarily desegregate their counters or else NCLC would launch a nonviolent campaign against them in February. When Harvey’s and Cain-Sloan upheld their segregation policies, Lawson reinforced efforts under the projects committee to prepare for the sit-in. More role-playing situations were enacted with “store employees, hecklers, and a manager” to test each participant’s training. They were often insulted, physically assaulted, and threatened in anticipation of what they might face in the real situation; if trainees broke any of the nonviolent demonstration protocol, they were barred from participating and assigned to indirect NCLC tasks. On February 1st of 1960, Nashville students heard of the Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. Given NCLC’s own plans for protest, this newest development aroused the interest of many Fisk and Tennessee students who wished to follow suit. A couple days later, James Lawson received a phone call from his personal friend and fellow Methodist minister, Douglas Moore, who asked if Lawson’s followers could show sympathy for the Greensboro movement in whatever way they could. After a discussion with NCLC’s president Reverend Kelly Miller Smith, Lawson contacted Fisk and Tennessee State students who decided to meet the next night at the Fisk science building. The 50 or so students who arrived then chose which stores to demonstrate in, trying to reflect the same type of stores being protested in Greensboro (Limbo, 165-7). While one of the greatest sit-ins to arouse national media attention, the Greensboro event lacked the regimented training and unified principles of Lawson’s NCLC. Civil Rights leaders like Lawson feared that Greensboro’s sudden and less prepared sit-in would make their appeal for black rights a mere passing fad rather than a milestone for African Americans. Furthermore, there was concern that if provoked, protesters might respond violently, thus justifying segregationists’ claims that demonstrators caused unnecessary harm to both property and people. Deciding to intervene, Lawson and Smith organized waves of students to refill the lunch counters as participants were arrested, while reserves were taught the strategies behind civil disobedience in the nearby First Colored Baptist Church (Lovett, 124).
On February 6, 1960, Lawson helped stage Nashville’s own downtown sit-ins, bringing them into full swing. Although the help of nearby police and Lawson’s nonviolent direct action tactics kept demonstrations peaceful at first, violence broke out by the fourth series of sit-ins held in 10 different stores by 400 students. Protesting students had cigarettes crushed against their backs, ketchup poured into their hair, and were physically and verbally abused, but still not one of the protesters fought back or insulted the hecklers. When police finally decided to disrupt the sit-in and thus prevent further violence, traffic needed to be stopped along one downtown block, as a crowd of 350 antagonists had rallied around the demonstrators. The arrest of the peaceful, respectful, and well-dressed black demonstrators initiated a total boycott of downtown stores by the African American community. Nashville civil rights leaders claimed that for 7 weeks they withheld 98% of the African American business at downtown stores by taking their custom elsewhere or going without those needs at all. In addition to the boycott, the black community also raised $45,000 in 3 days to pay for bail, demonstrating the collective efforts of African Americans in the fight for Civil Rights (Limbo, 167-9, 174). Downtown stores were so impacted by the boycott that their white proprietors plead with Mayor Ben West to arrange an agreement with NCLC (Lovett, 174). West proceeded discuss the situation with Chief of Police Douglas Hosse and Lawson, who had been identified as the sit-in’s leader by the press. Because Lawson refused to comply with West’s conciliatory compromises, he was expelled from Vanderbilt University, but kept to the Civil Rights aims. West had argued that the protesters could demonstrate, but they must leave when the lunch counters decided to close. It was Lawson’s belief, however, that protesters had the right to continue since lunch counters closed arbitrarily to impede the demonstrations (Limbo, 167). In the meantime, hostilities rose to the point where Z. Alexander Looby, leader of the NAACP, had his house firebombed. Enraged students led a march on city hall, going silently and unarmed to challenge Mayor West. While Reverend C.T. Vivian used forceful invective against West, Diane Nash who was only 20 years old at the time, asked the mayor, “Do you feel it’s wrong to discriminate against a person solely on the basis of his race or color?” to which West admitted the wrongfulness of selling merchandise to African Americans but refusing them lunch counter service (Lovett, 174). Thus confronted, Mayor West arranged a biracial committee to address the segregation issue and eventually ordered that all lunch counters must serve both black and white customers. Despite the immense controversy surrounding the sit-in protests, the integration of lunch counters officially took place in May of 1960 (Lovett, 141 and Limbo, 157).
Although the desegregation of lunch counters did not mean the end of all segregation, it was a monumental step for Civil Rights in the 1960s. With Nashville’s movement, a model was firmly established for other cities to learn from and effectively improve on. As Martin Luther King Junior once stated, the Nashville movement under Lawson was “the best organized and the most disciplined in the Southland.” If it weren’t for the efforts of NCLC’s nonviolent campaign, they would not have set the stage for further legislative and social change in the United States. MLK, Jr. further proclaimed, “I did not come to Nashville to bring inspiration but to gain inspiration form the great movement that has taken place in this community” (Limbo, 176). Because of Lawson’s advanced knowledge in nonviolent resistance, he fundamentally changed the shape of the struggle for black rights. To many people in SNCC, NCLC, FOR, CORE, and SCLC, James Lawson was not only an unfailing leader, and a mentor as well (Morris, 176). As an individual his feats are colossal, but as an influential figure his accomplishments are even more pronounced. Molded by Lawson’s own hands, other renowned activists such as Diane Nash, John Lewis, James Bevel, and Marion Berry saw their emergence in the Civil Rights era to carry on the cause (“James M. Lawson, Jr.”). With Lawson’s guidance, the sit-in movement was instrumental to the development of Civil Rights for all African Americans by unifying the people around common goals and principles. A sense of black pride made its way into the African American community and people of all generations realized the potency of their collective efforts. After the sit-in movement’s success, racial discrimination was still seen in major hotels, hospitals, employment, and other restaurants, but the achievements produced by Lawson’s NCLC demonstrated that with persistence change could and would surely come (Limbo, 176).