Freedom Rides

On May 4, 1961, seven African American and six white activists began the Freedom Rides. This series of bus trips through the south challenged the lack of enforcement for the Supreme Court’s ruling of United States Supreme Court decisions Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960) which ruled segregated public buses are unconstitutional. Their goal was to travel to New Orleans to celebrate the anniversary of Brown V. Board of Education. However, this set a precedent for violence that plagued other freedom riders. The first violent incident occurred on May 12 in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where John Lewis, an African-American seminary student and member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and other freedom riders were met with progressively large mobs and a lack of protection from law enforcement as they ventured south (Arsenault, 2006). Members of the bus decided to split into two. On May 14, 1961, the original bus was the first to arrive in Anniston, Alabama. 200 angry white people surrounded the bus and one person threw a bomb inside it. The Riders barely escaped. Passengers in the second bus arrived…

civilians owned slaves prior to, during and even after the War of Northern Aggression. Most Union Generals and staff had slaves a few by name are: William T. Sherman had many slaves that served him until well after the war was over and did not free them until late 1865. U.S. Grant also had several slaves, who were only freed after the 13th amendment in December of 1865. When asked why he didn’t free his slaves earlier, Grant stated “Good help is so hard to come by these days.” Contrarily,…

In 1965 the freedom ride rode through western New South Wales towns as a way to draw attention to the racism that was absent. This was done by an Aboriginal student named Charles Perkins who drove a bus around protesting the discrimination against Aboriginal people in small towns in NSW. The freedom ride in Australia had a significant impact on Australians attitudes at that time towards indigenous rights. The main points being discussed will be how Charles Perkins and the Freedom Ride impacted…

Freedom Rides were essential for making sure that states were complying with the desegregation of buses. In 1961 freedom rides were organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to see if the Supreme Court’s declaration that the segregation of transportation facilities was unconstitutional actually desegregated the bus system. The SNCC was involved in the rides as well. CORE, CNCC and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) formed a coordinating committee to organize the…

The Freedom Ride was a bus tour that occurred in February of 1965, visiting regional towns in New South Wales (Informit EduTV, 2015) with the intention of drawing attention to the inequalities faced by Indigenous Australians. The Freedom Ride was organised by a group of 34 students from the University of Sydney, under the name of ‘Student Action For Aborigines’ (SAFA) and was led by one of the two Indigenous students in the group; Charles Perkins (Galligan & Roberts, 2007). These students were…

On May 4, 1961, the first Freedom Rides began, founded by James Farmer, Marvin Rich, Gordon Carey, and Jim McCain. Gathering twelve to fourteen people and travel from Virginia to Alabama, to promote nonviolence through a sit-in movement was their plan. Dr. Walter and Frances Bergman, Reverend B. Elton Cox, James Peck, Hank Thomas, Albert Bigelow, John Lewis, Genevieve Hughes, Joe Perkins, and Ed Blankenheim were recruited for this movement and sent to Washington, D.C. for intensive training.…

On May 4, 1961, a group of 13 civil rights activists launched the Freedom Rides, a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in Anniston Alabama on May 14th. When the bus arrived in Anniston, an angry mob of white people surrounded the bus, causing the driver to continue past the bus station. The mob followed the bus in automobiles, and when the bus…

Freedom Rides During the civil rights movement, African Americans fought legal segregation through violence and nonviolence because they no longer wanted to live in an unequal world filled with segregation. Jim Crow laws took away from the freedom that African Americans had sought for, “separate but equal” formed discrimination. Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized freedom rides in 1961 that took the country by storm. Freedom riders fought legal racial segregations through nonviolence…

start of one of the most important movements that occurred in the Civil Rights Movement, the Freedom Rides. Seven African Americans and six whites left on a bus from Washington D.C. that was bound for the deep south (CORE,2014). Their goal was to test the supreme court ruling of the legal case Boynton v. Virginia 1960, which declared that segregation in interstate buses and railroad stations was unconstitutional (CORE,2014). The Freedom Rides were so important to the goals of the Civil Rights…

What were the freedom rides? When racism was witnessed by numerous Australians, as issues experienced by different nations for example: South Africa or the southern part of the USA, University of Sydney pupils chose to expose the truth of racism in Australia and the lives for Aboriginal individuals in New South Wales. Charles Perkins, from Alice Springs was one of just two Aboriginal students at the University at the time, was chosen leader for the Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA).…