The students pressed an aggressive civil rights agenda that alienated not just white moderates but the elder generation of black leaders as well. For decades, the old guard had worked with white leaders at a slow but steady pace, which guaranteed a gradual course of desegregation, as well as positions of prominence for themselves. In contrast, the student activists proved to be much more militant than their elders in every way. Instead of negotiations, they issued ultimatums; instead of compromise, they sought confrontation.
