Freedom Rides
by Tiffany Nguyen and Sarah Northcutt
What are Freedom Rides?
The Freedom Rides are a series of political protests against segregation by blacks and whites who rode buses together through the American South in 1961. They attempted to enforce new federal desegregation travel laws mandated by the Supreme Court in Boynton v. Virginia and was initiated by the Congress of Racial Equality.
The Freedom Rides succeeded in securing a ban on segregation in all transportation facilities and on May 4, 1961, 7 African Americans and 6 whites rode on two buses from Washington D.C. to New Orleans.
Challenges Faced by Freedom Riders
Burning Buses
The journey towards desegregation was not easy. On May 14, one bus was firebombed and the Freedom Riders were beaten when the bus stopped outside of Anniston, Alabama to change a slashed tire. The second bus was similarly attacked and the passengers were beaten in Birmingham, Alabama. Although they were discouraged, a second group of new freedom riders, originating in Nashville and partly organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, renewed the effort. However, they were arrested in Birmingham and transported back to Tennessee. They tried to return to Birmingham and travel to Montgomery, but they were beaten again when local police failed to protect them.
Burning Freedom Bus
Burning Freedom Bus
Arrested Freedom Riders
Relation to "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Bibliography
"Freedom Rides | American Civil Rights Movement." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/218576/Freedom-Rides>.
"Freedom Rides." Freedom Rides. Stanford University, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_freedom_rides/>.
"Montgomery Bus Boycott." Montgomery Bus Boycott. Civil Rights Digital Library, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://crdl.usg.edu/events/montgomery_bus_boycott/?Welcome>.
Walsh, Robert. "Freedom Rides (1961)." Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture. Ed. James S. Baugess and Abbe Allen DeBolt. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2012. 227-229. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Apr. 2015