Freedom+Rides

=Freedom Rides=

The first Freedom Ride left Washington D.C. on 4th May, 1961.
Civil Rights activists called Freedom Riders rode on interstate buses into the segregated southern U.S.A to test the United States Supreme Court desicion 'Boynton v. Virginia' (The case was a desicion that overturned a judgement convicting a African American law student for trespassing by being in a restaurant in a bus terminal which was "whites only", 1960). [|(Mcelrath, 2009)] African Americans and whites together rode various forms of public transportation in the South to challenge local laws or customs that enforced segregation. [|(Cozzens, 1999)] - 4 May, 1961: Freedom Riders left Washington D.C -17 May, 1961: The arrival in louisiana -18 May, 1961: South Carolina arrival -19 May, 1961: Atlanta arrival -20 May, 1961: Alabama arrival -21 May, 1961: Journey back home -22 May, 1961: Honorable Riders -23 May, 1961: Freedom Rider support [|(Dwayne, 2009)]

The Freedom Riders were inspired the the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, led by //civil rights// activist Bayard Rustin and George Houser. Similar to the Freedom Rides of 1962, the Journey of Reconciliation was intended to test an earlier Supreme Court ruling that banned racial discrimination in interstate travel. [|(Cozzens, 1999)] Rustin and a few of the other riders, (majority of the other riders were members of Congress of Racial Equality 'CORE') were arrested and sentenced for violating the Jim Crowe laws. [|(Mcelrath, 2009)]

The Freedom Riders traveled to Atlanta. On May 14, the riders left Atlanta for Birmingham, where they knew that trouble would occur. This time it was with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Two hours before the Trailways bus was scheduled to arrive in Birmingham, difficulty began in Anniston, Alabama. When they arrived the Klan was waiting. The Klan boarded the bus, beat the blacks sitting in the front and forced them to the back of the bus.[|(Dwayne, 2009)] The bus then proceeded with Klan members on board to Birmingham where they were beat by more Klansmen. [|(Cozzens, 1999)] The bus was also stopped in Anniston by an angry group. When the bus tried to proceed to Birmingham, the Klan slashed the tires. The bus made it just outside of Anniston and then was forced to stop. The Klan had followed and with the bus stranded, they held the door closed and threw a firebomb into the bus. The riders escaped before the bus was fully engulfed in flames. [|(Mcelrath, 2009)]

On May 15, due to the previous day’s violence, the riders were unable to find a willing bus driver. They decided to fly to New Orleans for the May 17 rally. The trouble did not end there. The riders were not only followed to the airport by an angry group of whites but a bomb threat was made. Nonetheless, the riders safely flew out of Birmingham. [|(History Learning Site, 2009)]

On May 20, the Freedom Riders were back on their way to Montgomery. When the bus arrived at the Montgomery station, it appeared empty. Not even the police were in sight. Suddenly as the Freedom Riders began to get off the bus, Klansmen surrounded the bus and began to beat the riders. [|(History Learning Site, 2009)] The beating stopped after Floyd Mann, the director of Alabama public safety, fired a shot into the air. Among those seriously injured by the attacks were Jim Zwerg, John Lewis, William Barbee, and John Seigenthaler, Robert Kennedy’s assistant.

On May 21, Martin Luther King Jr. arrived in Montgomery to address the riders at Fred Shuttlesworth’s First Baptist Church. That evening as King spoke, a group of 1,000 angry whites began to surround the church. [|(Cozzens, 1999)] Although the church was protected by federal marshals, they still managed to break several windows. [|(Dwayne, 2009)] The marshals used tear gas to control the crowd, but King and the participants in the church were locked inside. King, fearful of what might happen, contacted Robert Kennedy for help. Kennedy promised that once the Alabama National Guard arrived, they could safely leave. At 5:00 AM, they were able to leave the church.The Freedom Riders were not ready to give up. [|(Mcelrath, 2009)] On May 24, twenty-seven Freedom Riders boarded a Montgomery bus bound for Jackson, Mississippi. The riders were protected by the National Guard and U.S. marshals. When they arrived in Jackson, they walked into the white waiting room, where they were arrested for trespassing. They were sentenced to sixty days in jail. An additional 328 riders were arrested in Jackson by the end of the summer. [|(History Learning Site, 2009)]

The Freedom Rides led to the desegregation of interstate busing. In September 1961, after a petition from Robert Kennedy, the Interstate Commerce Commission passed regulations that enabled the federal government to enforce the Supreme Court ruling forbidding segregated interstate travel. The regulations took effect on November 1, 1961. [|(Dwayne, 2009)]

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