After the Civil War in America, laws were passed by southern states that separated the races in public places. These laws were called Jim Crow laws, and they were written by state legislatures to go around the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed equal protection under the law. By the 1950s, the situation was still so bad that author James Baldwin wrote, “At the rate things are going here all of Africa will be free before we can get a lousy cup of coffee,” (Aretha 11 ). African Americans worked to end segregation laws and get their Constitutional rights. Many of these protesters were young college students in the South, such as Diane Nash, a leader among the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Nash participated in many events in the early 1960s. Her most important contribution to the Civil Rights Movement was her leadership in the Nashville sit-ins, because these protests led to the desegregation of public places as well as signified the…show more content… One risk she was willing to take was talking with the mayor of Nashville Tennessee, Ben West on national television. Nash and many students met Mayor West at the City Hall, they did this because they were angry about the bombing of Alexander Looby’s house. Nash did not think that was enough, so she eventually got him to admit that he truly did not like segregation, which led to him desegregating all lunch counters in Nashville Tennessee. If the mayor had not admitted that he did not like segregation, less people would have been willing to help. Diane Nash continued her work with the SNCC Freedom Rides. Diane Nash began helping with the SNCC after the CORE decided to end The Freedom Rides. She continued to help with Freedom Rides and got more involved with the SNCC. In the summer of 1961 Nash became the head of the SNCC Direct Action Campaign. While working with the SNCC she also helped with Freedom
