Non-Violent Actions Will Aid Integration, Minister Comments

Southern integration must result from non-violent action, the Reverend James Lawson commented last night at a meeting sponsored by the Lunch Counter Integration Committee. Lawson recently gained national prominence by his participation in the Nashville sit-ins, which brought his expulsion from Vanderbilt University.

Stressing that the movement for integration uses non-violent policies, Lawson indicated that its leaders will not stop their agitation, demonstrations, and boycotts until a transformed South is created.

Lawson saw the Nashville sit-ins as the turning point in the success of the integration movement. By capturing the imagination of many Southern Negroes, the demonstrators, he said, instilled new life into the movement. The Reverend called upon Negroes to endure whatever hardships the sit-ins would bring. Citing Gandhi's successes with non-violence, Lawson looked forward to the triumph of Southern Negroes over prejudice.

Later in the program, Dr. Richard Mann, Chairman, Boston Congress on Racial Equality, spoke on "Student Action and Civil Rights Progress." At this time he urged students to follow their convictions as their consciences dictate.