Freedom Rides: The Courageous Acts Of Civil Disobedience

0 Posted by - March 4, 2021 - LATEST POSTS

In the year 1960, James Farmer- leader of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)- led a small group of interracial students and activists in protesting the Jim Crow laws of the South in a series of “freedom rides” throughout the region. The project was based off of the 1946 failed “Journey of Reconciliation” also created by CORE when the Supreme Court’s decision in Morgan v. the Commonwealth of Virginia outlawed segregated interstate travel. The journey was never completed, as segregationists ignored the Court’s ruling. Farmer recreated these first freedom rides with his group of activists.

Organizers from core organized a group of twelve activists, or freedom riders, to travel on the Greyhound and Trailways buses from Washington D.C. to New Orleans. In both buses, no incidents occurred across the states of Virginia and North Carolina, but chaos ensued in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Several white males beat many of the freedom riders for using a “whites only” bathroom. Still, the rides continued. On May 14th, the Greyhound bus of freedom riders was attacked by a mob in Anniston, Alabama. The angry mob slashed the tires of the bus and threw rocks at passengers. The driver was able to move out of town, but they were followed by more angry whites who then set the bus on fire, ending the ride. The Trailways bus continued moving, through they were also attacked by the white mob. When reaching Birmingham, an even larger mob of angry whites attacked the passengers with weapons such as baseball bats and led pipes.

Though they were beaten, activists were not deterred in challenging white racism. Diane Nash of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), organized another freedom ride beginning in Nashville after hearing about the fate of the first two freedom riders. The riders reached Birmingham and were met by Eugene “Bull” Conner, one of the most vicious Public Safety Commissioners during the Civil Rights movement, and the riders were put into police custody, then transported to the Tennessee state line on the side of the highway. Nash and the other freedom riders did not let this deter them, and went back the 100 miles to Nashville to create a new plan.

On May 20th, SNCC tried again, riding to Birmingham with no incident. When they reached Montgomery, a large mob of men, women, and children, viciously attacked the riders with bricks, baseball bats, and other blunt instruments. Many of the activists sustained terrible injuries, including SNCC members John Lewis and Jim Zwerg. The entire attack was televised. Farmer was able to move the remaining group to Jackson, Mississippi, where they received state protection as they travelled across the state. As they reached the bus terminal in Jackson, the riders were arrested and fined for $200 a passenger. After refusing, the riders were sentenced to 90 days in jail, where they suffered oppressive conditions. They were made to sleep on the floor, experienced beatings and strip searches, and were also given inedible food. By the end of the summer, over 300 men and women were incarcerated in the jail.

Though the Freedom Riders were unable to reach New Orleans, their efforts still led to positive change. Attorney General Robert Kennedy petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission, which outlawed segregation in interstate travel. Sanctions were imposed for any violations of the ruling, unlike the previous Supreme Court decision. The order went into effect on November 1st, 1961. The courageous acts of civil disobedience by the freedom riders finally had succeeded in enacting change.

 

Source: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/freedom-rides-1961

13 Comments

  • Mayme Osting April 1, 2019 - 3:49 pm

    INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS GENERATOR.Become a neighborhood superstar. Get endless free of charge followers currently and impress your folks!Choose you absolutely free followers for Instagram from in this article : http://free-followers-ig.cf/

  • wipersoft full crack April 8, 2019 - 8:24 pm

    Great blog post. A few things i would like to bring about is that laptop or computer memory should be purchased if the computer can no longer cope with anything you do along with it. One can put in two RAM memory boards having 1GB each, for example, but not one of 1GB and one having 2GB. One should check the car maker’s documentation for the PC to ensure what type of memory it can take.

  • gamefly free trial May 4, 2019 - 11:34 am

    Hello! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog
    platform are you using for this website? I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m
    looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be great if
    you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

  • gamefly May 4, 2019 - 7:17 pm

    Hi, Neat post. There is a problem together with your
    site in web explorer, would check this? IE nonetheless is the marketplace leader
    and a huge element of folks will omit your wonderful
    writing because of this problem.

  • download minecraft for free May 7, 2019 - 9:29 am

    My spouse and I stumbled over here by a different
    web page and thought I may as well check things out.
    I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to checking out your web page yet again.

  • minecraft free May 8, 2019 - 9:28 am

    Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
    I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any tips?

  • g May 11, 2019 - 3:52 pm

    What a stuff of un-ambiguity and preserveness of precious know-how concerning unpredicted emotions.

  • g May 12, 2019 - 1:37 am

    What i do not understood is if truth be told how you’re no longer really much more smartly-favored than you
    might be now. You’re very intelligent. You recognize thus
    significantly in the case of this topic, produced me in my view believe it from numerous numerous angles.
    Its like women and men don’t seem to be interested except it is one
    thing to do with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs nice.
    At all times take care of it up!

  • gamefly free trial May 25, 2019 - 6:18 am

    Hi would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with?
    I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a tough time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
    The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most
    blogs and I’m looking for something unique.
    P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I had to ask!

  • KelPava June 6, 2019 - 12:24 pm

    Lioresal Intrathecal Propecia Pas Cher Livraison Rapide achat viagra generique en ligne en limoges Viagra Versand An Packstation

  • yalova son dakika haberleri June 7, 2019 - 5:39 pm

    Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.

  • ps4 best games ever made 2019 June 12, 2019 - 9:12 am

    Hi there, I enjoy reading through your post. I wanted to write a little comment
    to support you.

  • KelPava June 17, 2019 - 6:36 pm

    Macrobid On Sale The Wrekin Low Cost Asthma Inhalers Womens Tadalis Sx Soft Force Cialis Ubelkeit Kaufen Viagra 100mg