Freedom Riders: Protest Against Segregation In The United States

Racial segregation in public transportation was now illegal, therefore the Freedom Riders wanted to determine whether this law was being enforced. On May 14th African-American's decided to sit wherever they chose to on the bus. Many white supremacists acted upon this and started throwing

The bus driver asked for Rosa to give up her seat for the white man, but she refused. Rosa Parks was arrested and this outraged the black community. This event was controversial to the civil rights movement. On February 1st, 1960 four African American friends named David,

The original 'Freedom Rides' in the American South were a series of student political protests that took the form of bus journeys through the southern states. Student volunteers, both African American and white, rode interstate into the pro-segregationist south, to bring awareness to and fight for person of colours rights. This eventually led to violent protest and hostility that additionally increased public awareness of racism in society through this intensive media coverage. Due to international coverage, protests in support of the Civil Rights movement occurred in Australia as well, supporting the Civil Rights Bill that was being considered by the United States

The group represented hope for colored people. A chance for a possible future where equal rights are distributed everywhere and racial segregation to be eradicated once and for all. Their attendance brought attention to racial segregation issues faced by colored people not just in schools but many public facilities and services. Many social protests like the freedom riders and the Montgomery bus boycott took place during that time period. They all fought for the civil rights movement.

The Freedom Rides, integrated interstate buses driving throughout the south in protest of segregation, were attacked along their route. A mob of anti-immigration protesters firebombed a bus and physically assaulted its riders. Kennedy had originally refused to meet with the Freedom Riders, but was then forced to send in 400 federal marshals to protect the buses and their occupants. Kennedy often had a hesitant initial response to civil rights protest, this can be seen in his refusal to meet with the Freedom Riders and his original discouragement of the March on Washington. Despite this, Kennedy was beneficial to the Civil Rights movement on a whole.

Once the news spread about the greyhound buses, the Congress of Racial Equality couldn't find a driver to take the Freedom Riders anywhere. During that time, Robert Kennedy and the governor, John Paterson, of Alabama came to an agreement that every bus would be escorted by federal police to secure the safety of the driver and the people. On May 20th of 1961, a bus left for Montgomery, Alabama and right before the bus arrived to the terminal, the police escort left it alone. When the bus arrived, there was a large, angry mob of white people waiting with baseball bats and other objects. It was so chaotic that General Attorney Kennedy had to send 600 federal Marshals to restore order.

During 1961, they experienced a dangerous fight against civil rights on the Freedom Ride as organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) when the US Court declared another interstate segregation of the Black, but the activists boarded more buses going to the Southern States to gain the attention of the government and as expected they experience resistance among the operators, some of them are attacked and sent to jail by white riders. When the

The Freedom Riders left Birmingham that Saturday on, May 20, they had been promised police protection, but after ninety miles from the city limits the police disappeared. When they reached Montgomery, angry white mobs was everywhere. Floyd Mann, Director of Public Safety for the state of Alabama, tried to stop the mob, but they continued to beat the Riders and those who came to their aid. Mann finally had to order in state troopers. When news of the Montgomery attack reached the White House, Robert Kennedy decided to send federal marshals to the

The African-American Civil Rights Movement was very influential in its time; and more specifically, the Freedom Rides that took place were the epitome of the movement that brought down the racial barriers of segregation. This paper specifically focuses on the precursor events to the Freedom Rides, the major events that took place during the rides, and how the effects of the rides shaped history and redefined civil rights in modern-day America. Leading up to the Freedom Rides, the Supreme Court issued two rulings that denounced Plessy v. Ferguson, which were Irene Morgan v. The Commonwealth of Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia. These rulings mandated a halt to the segregation on public buses and declared it to be unconstitutional. The main

Ultimately this hope gave many African Americans the motivation to start and participate in the civil rights movement. As a result of the Montgomery bus boycotts, “the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s order to end segregation on city buses” (Cravens). Therefore, blacks were now protected by the law to be allowed to sit wherever they please on public transportation. However, the most important law passed which finally brought the civil rights efforts to fruition was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act “prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations, public facilities, and the use of federal funds” (Civil Rights Movement,

Federal marshals went to Montgomery. More riders had continued to show there respect and continued to ride within the six months and the Kennedy administration had taken control and the freedom ride movement had succeeded. In conclusion the freedom riders changed society in many ways others couldn't imagine. They took beatings , they had to fight because others were scared, they also had to put up with death because they wanted to stand up for what they believed in. Freedom riders were the most amazing people in life because no one else would've kept trying after so many fails they never gave up.

International attention was now upon the Freedom Riders, following the widespread violence, CORE couldn’t find a bus driver to transport the group, then later decided to abandon the Freedom Riders. Arsenault gave hope when writing how Diane Nash, an activist of Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee (SNCC), had organized a group of ten students from Nashville, Tennessee to continue the ride, as the US Attorney General and brother of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy had spoken with Governor John Patterson of Alabama and bus companies to secure a driver and state protection for the continuing Freedom Riders; the ride had continued with the police escort from Birmingham on May 20. Arsenault showed inspiration in his book when Attorney General Kennedy had sent in six hundred federal marshals to the city of Montgomery, Alabama, where police had left the station before the riders arrived, as the riders were being beaten with bats and clubs. Arsenault was giving the readers hope for the Freedom

The first ride took place on May 4, 1961. Thirteen activists, both black and white, took public buses to the South from Washington D.C. The first few days were the safest. After the second week, the activists were severely beaten. One time in Alabama, white people attacked the riders right next to a sheriff's office.

They expressed their protest by sitting. It was highly effective because it initiated by black students. When Martin Luther King was in jail, the leaders in Birmingham decided a new strategy. A group of black children would march in Birmingham to protest against racism. If the children of Birmingham couldn’t awake American’s conscience, they thought, then nothing would.

The freedom riders proved a point to show the strength of the black race, but caused a divide as the white race became threatened and ---more