Freedom Riders
By Janelle Berry
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The constant prejudice and racial oppression African Americans were subject to in the American south finally motivated a group of Black activists to take a stand for the social equality and freedom they rightfully deserved. Lead by the infamous Martin Luther King Jr., the youth of America tore down the walls of social standards and began to rebuild a society in which all races could participate without fear of intolerance and bigotry. “In addition to the humiliation of segregated facilities, the threat of violence was always present for black travelers” (Freedom To Travel). One of the many steps they took in their ambiguous search for equality was through the Freedom Rides specifically associated with travel for African Americans.The Freedom rides were a series of political protests against segregation in the American South during the 1960s. They were lead by an interracial group combined of volunteers and members from the Congress of Racial Equality also know as CORE. Founded in 1942, CORE was a United States organization created to aid African Americans in their fight for equality during The Civil Rights Movement.
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The first action they took was in 1961 when they organized the first Freedom Ride. Departing from Washington D.C. on May 4th, two public buses, destined for the deep South carried seven blacks and six whites. Their primary goal was aimed at desegregating public transportation in the South for American for all races. As they traveled they encountered many attacks from white supremacists but they would not let this hold them back from achieving their goal. They first experienced this sort of violence in Alabama; however, once reaching Alabama the violence reoccurred to a much stronger degree. On May 14th the violence continued to worsen when one of the buses carrying the freedom riders pulled over to change a slashed tire and was brutally attacked and bombed. Once the second bus arrived in Birmingham it was similarly attacked and members of the freedom riders were cruelly beaten. "You didn't know what you were going to encounter," said Freedom Rider Charles Person. "You had night riders, you had hoodlums. You could be antagonized at any point in your journey. Most of the time it was very, very difficult to plan a trip" (Freedom To Travel). In both cases law enforcement were late in arriving, in which they did not provide much assistance towards the individuals attempting to stand up for the God given rights. Unfortunately after both ruthless assailments The Freedom Riders were unable to find a bus company to carry them the rest of the way. Although this specific journey came to an end many other organizations followed suit in creating their own freedom rides that would continue the protest in hopes of living in a world where blacks and whites could live in harmony and travel together without segregation dominating their behavior.
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Through Supreme Court rulings the Freedom Rides were able to make a large impact on the ways in which African American as well as other suppressed races conducted their lives in the American South society. They brought enforcement to the previous ruling by the United States Supreme Court decisions Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia declaring that segregated buses were unconstitutional. The Freedom Riders challenged the status quo and brought national attention to the disregard of federal law and brutal violence used to reinforce segregation. “On 29 May 1961, the Kennedy administration announced that it had directed the ICC to ban segregation in all facilities under its jurisdiction, but the rides continued” (Freedom Rides). Through their trials and tribulations they were able to create a chain reaction in the process of desegregating the south and motivated other activists to promote the equality for African Americans. Finally, their efforts were responded to after their many protests when, “on 1 November 1961, the ICC ruling that segregation on interstate buses and facilities was illegal took effect” (Freedom Rides).