They were protesting segregation, led by their teacher on the left (who retired to Pocatello, Idaho by the way, which is
extremely White, even though he claimed to be Native Injun himself), so of course they knew they'd get some backlash.
It was what it was back then. It was a different time that neither of us could claim to understand, since we weren't there.
We can fast forward to today, where I as a White man, would probably catch a beating at least if I walked down the wrong PUBLIC street in shitholes like Detroit and Chicongo. I know niggers don't like me. They want their segregated Detroit shithole slums for themselves also, and I will happily accept and accommodate that.
So what exactly has changed after all these years? Not much. And nothing ever will.