Freedom Riders Research Paper

A group of people risked their life to obtain equality for African Americans in the south. The Freedom Riders were a group of around 13 people. Most of them were African Americans but there were always a few white skinned people in the group as well. There was no set leader for the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders rode interstate buses into the Southern United States. The south was referred to as the most segregated part of the U.S. The main goal of the Freedom Riders was to desegregate and become “separate but equal.” They had also set out to defy the Jim Crow Laws. The Freedom Riders had a little bit of help from two court cases: Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia. These court cases ruled that it was

During the early 1930’s through the mid 1960’s there were many different approaches African American’s took for achieving social changes, and the Civil rights they deserved. Many great African American leader’s such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcom X, and James Baldwin contributed towards the betterment of blacks living in America. Aside from individual African American leaders there was also groups that fought for black civil rights such as The Black Power Movement, Black Panthers, and Civil Rights Activist. Other events that transpired during this time period had also effected the civil rights movement in America. For instance: The altercation with Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white male ultimately led to The Montgomery Bus boycott protest,

I want to pursue my graduate studies on history at Cal State Los Angeles. I gained an interest in history as a career. I’m going to become one of the children from my family to pursue this endeavor. I see history as important information which teaches to not repeat past errors for society in the 21st century. Furthermore I want to see what jobs I can do in my current condition, after being diagnosed for multiple schelrosis and asperger’s syndrome.

In 1965 a group of students from Sydney University formed a group, called Student Action for Aborigines, that’s purpose was to draw attention to the inequality between white and indigenous Australia based in New South Wales. It also hoped to decrease the social discrimination between white Australia and indigenous Australia as well as give support to aboriginals to withstand the discrimination they face daily.

Following, on May 4, 1961, a mixed group of 13 African Americans and white civil rights activist led the Freedom Rides (Freedom Rides?). Similar, to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Freedom Rides traveled to various cities in the south to protest against segregation of the bus terminals. History.com staff concurs “the Freedom Rides, a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals.” The purpose of the freedom riders was to openly disobey the Jim Crow laws in the south in a nonviolent fashion. This was a dangerous journey, many of these people were beaten, arrested, and even the buses were destroyed. Yet, they persevered (“Freedom Riders: The Nashville Connection”). History.com staff, adds “The Freedom Riders, were recruited by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a U.S. civil rights group, they departed from Washington D.C., and attempted to integrate facilities at bus terminals along the way in the Deep South.” African Americans would try to use the “whites only” bathrooms and counters, which attracted attention and violence (Freedom Rides). According to the history.com staff due to the efforts of the Freedom Rides, “in September 1961, the interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations prohibiting segregation in bus and train nationwide.” The

“If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” This quote from John Lewis, a former Freedom Rider I believe with those words perfectly describes why these Freedom Riders began their journey. After reading the textbook, Visions of America and watching the video clip from American Experience of Freedom Riders I was able to make myself knowledgeable about Freedom Riders. Both the textbook and the video I thought engaged me into the information I was either reading or listening. So, what exactly are Freedom Riders, what were the impacts of this event and why is this so important to our history?

Who are the Freedom Riders you may ask? They were a courageous and daring group, which originally consisted of seven African Americans and six Whites.They fought for the equality and justice for their race. They fought against the racist South during the early 1960’s. Their goal was to make a safer and more fair world for current and future African Americans in the United States. They went through hardship and violence from things such as, angry mobs and racist law enforcement through a period of several months. The Freedom Riders risked their safety and put their lives in danger to impact the way society viewed African Americans and to make the United States fair and equal for all races not just white. There were many events that happened during the Freedom Rider’s protest throughout the deep South. But, the hardship payed off because the Freedom Riders made a huge impact on U.S. History and they also impacted the greater justice and equality for African Americans. The Freedom Riders also have an amazing story with major events and a very positive end result which helped out African Americans in the United States and they also help change how the government treated African Americans unfairly and did give them equal rights as White people had in the United States. The Freedom Riders changed everything for African Americans and gave them a positive future to look forward to.

Freedom riders challenged the facilities they encountered at bus terminals in the south which had been deemed illegal by the supreme court doing that those were dangerous the things that happened were beatings and arrests for the many people who were in it even Lewis suffered through it.

The Freedom Rides were formed on May, 1961, launched by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a U.S. civil rights group. A group of African-Americans and white civil rights activists departed in two buses from Washington, D.C. to the South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals. The Supreme Court rules in December of 1960, that segregation in interstate travel is illegal but still state laws in the southern states and local ordinances ordered segregation of the races on buses.

This time period was almost solely based on segregation as whites felt superior to blacks and didn’t want them to have the same rights as whites. Many if not all of the movements were based on prejudice. Prejudice is the thought and feeling of another group based on ethnicity and or race, usually these thoughts are negative. I would imagine some of the people involved considered this to be pluralism as there was the white group and the black group that were distinctly separated. One of the most important and first thought of civil rights movement events is the “I Have a Dream Speech” by Dr. Martin Luther King. This movement was started long before his speech was given and was sourced by many smaller movements. In the mid 1950s, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the “colored section” of the bus to a white passenger, which was in defiance of the southern custom at the time. Ms. Parks was arrested in Montgomery, AL. for her defiance of the custom. This spawned a bus boycott, in which the black community refused to ride the busses for over a year, until the bus system was desegregated late in the year of 1956. Dr. Martin Luther King led the bus boycott as he was the newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). Also around this time Dr. King and several other individuals established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which was a major organizer for nonviolent civil rights

The Freedom Riders left Washington and tried to integrate facilities at bus terminals along the way into the Deep South. African-American Freedom Riders tried to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters. The group encountered violence from white protestors along the route, but also drew international attention to their cause. Over the next few months, several hundred Freedom Riders engaged in similar actions. In September 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations stopping segregation in bus and train stations all over the world.

It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that riding the bus can get one hurt and killed and how non-volient acts can lead to so much hate and violence. The Freedom Rides help bring attention to national level. The level of violence is extreme in response to a non-violent movement. The white supremacy was trying its best to make the colored population inferior. The segregation is a symbol of fear and hate. The press and television is a big part in the success of the movement. They help shape the public opinion toward segregation. The media brought the problem to our attention through dramatic and often disturbing photos and reports.

“Freedom Riders” were a group of people, both black and white, who were civil rights activists from the North who “meant to demonstrate that segregated travel on interstate buses, even though banned by an I.C.C. Ruling, were still being enforced throughout much of the South” (The South 16). The Riders attempted to prove this by having a dozen or so white and black Freedom Riders board buses in the North and travel through Southern cities. This was all “a coldly calculated attempt to speed up integration by goading the South, forcing the Southern extremists to explode their tempers” ('Freedom Riders' 20). The author of the Newsweek article stated this as the Southern opinion of the reason for the Freedom Riders. The

On May 4, 1961 The freedom riders started their journey from Washington D.C. to Louisiana. Thirteen African Americans And White civil rights activists. They were doing this to try to end segregation. There is no more segregation and there are still whites and black that do not like each other.

In the1960s there was a lot of racial tension so any group that touched the tension was hated and sometimes even beaten or killed. The Freedom Rides were no exception, they started in 1961 and had a lot of hate and violence directed at them. They had two objectives, one was to go to New Orleans, Louisiana on a mixed race bus and the other was to test the enforcement of segregation on interstate buses. The Freedom Rides grew quickly and had a bit of support, but they did encounter a lot of hate by the public and by the police.There was an “original group of 13 Freedom Riders...seven African Americans and six whites—left Washington, D.C.”(Freedom Riders, A&E Television) on a greyhound bus to New Orleans, Louisiana. This evidence is significant because it shows that the Freedom Rides started of as a very small movement and it tells us that they were trying to go deep into the south on a mixed race public bus. It is important to realize that the first ride was a “interracial group of student activists under the... Congres of Racial Equality” (“Freedom Rides”, Civil Rights Digital Library) which is also known as CORE. CORE was just started only nineteen years before the first freedom rides, so it was a new organization but they were a big factor in the Civil Rights Movement. Lastly because of the “violence and arrests”people were drawn to the Freedom Rides “and hundreds of new Freedom Riders (joined) the cause.”(“Freedom Riders”, A&E