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‘No protect and serve’: 65 years since Ax Handle Saturday, a racist attack in downtown Jacksonville

Rep. Lawson leads effort to nationally recognize James Weldon Johnson Park

Wednesday marks 65 years since Ax Handle Saturday, a brutal racist attack on a peaceful lunch counter-protest in downtown Jacksonville.

On August 27, 1960, the protest against segregation turned bloody when a group of white men attacked Black people with ax handles and baseball bats.

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It happened near then-Hemming Park, which is now known as James Weldon Johnson Park.

Civil rights activist and historian Rodney Hurst, who was president of the youth council of Jacksonville’s NAACP at the time, helped lead peaceful sit-in protests at lunch counters.

In 2020, he described to Action News Jax how he remembered what’s known as one of the bloodiest days in Jacksonville history.

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“The stores were locking doors, and if you were inside, you stayed inside. If you were outside, you could not get in. We tried to shelter the Black females who were sitting in with us as much as we could and push them back into the stores. And then we had no choice but to run for our own safety. There were no policemen downtown during any of the days we were sitting in. There was no protect and serve during that time,” he said.

Hurst is holding an event at The Church of Oakland on Wednesday night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to commemorate Ax Handle Saturday.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan is expected to be there.

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