History
In 1961, an interracial group of bus riders set out to test a new
law outlawing segregation in transportation terminals. Sponsored by
the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the riders used nonviolence
as a strategy to highlight the injustice of segregation.
The rides began in Washington, D.C. Two teams of riders boarded
two buses, a Greyhound and a Trailways. The planned route would have
the riders arriving in New Orleans, Louisiana, to celebrate the May 17th
anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision that outlawed school
segregation seven years before. The route would also take the
riders through the deep South, through some of the most dangerous
areas of the country for people who believed in racial equality.
The first leg of the journey was largely uneventful.
John Lewis, a young student from Nashville, was arrested
and detained briefly in Rock Hill, South Carolina,
but the rides continued on to Atlanta. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. helped host the riders there and
expressed concern for their safety as they prepared to
enter Alabama. His concern proved prophetic.
Just outside of Anniston, Alabama, a mob attacked
and fire-bombed one bus. Only the quick intervention
of state safety office saved the lives of the riders.
The other bus managed to arrive in Birmingham, only
to be greeted by an angry gang who beat the Freedom
Riders. The Freedom Rides had reached a critical
point. Should they continue, at the risk of suffering
and perhaps death or should the rides stop? As CORE
debated this issue, Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent
in his special assistant John Seigenthaler to help the
beleaguered Freedom Riders get safely to New Orleans.
In Nashville, a group of young student activists
learned of the violence against the Freedom Riders.
After much debate, the students decided that if the
Freedom Rides ended, it would send a signal to racist
hate groups that violence could end the struggle for
freedom. Then the violence against activists for freedom
would increase, making it harder to secure equality.
The Nashville students did not want the movement for
civil rights to end, so they sent students to Alabama
to continue the Freedom Rides.
This courageous effort by these young students, many of
whom were members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC), inspired other young people to get involved
and join the Freedom Rides too. During the rest of that
year, hundreds of black and white students traveled from
across the country to help integrate the terminals. But
they didn't just help end segregation there. Ultimately,
the young Freedom Riders helped bolster a movement of
local black activists across the deep South, and together
they would help topple segregation everywhere.
So, the story of the Freedom Riders shows how young, committed
students can organize and improve society. Are you willing to
work for a better world?
|
