Freedom Riders: Important To The Civil Rights Movement

The Freedom rides were put together by Mr. Farmer and consisted of a mixed race of people. They all followed the rule: “Jail no bail.” This ride was non-violent and resulted in turmoil near the south. This smart idea made James Farmer a powerful leader in the Civil Rights movement. No one had the same amount of courage and fight inside as he did.

On May 2011 40 students from different parts of the United States joined the original freedom riders : Jim Zwerg, Who was considered a traitor to his race for participating in the non-violence movements, Ernest “Rip” Patton, he joined the movement two days after the First Baptist Church of Montgomery was attacked by the mobs on May 21, Helen and Bob Singleton and Joan Mulholland that at the time that she joined the freedom rides in June of 1961 was working at the office of a California Senator; in Re-living the 1961 rides from Washington, DC to New Orleans, LA . There is a big difference between the freedom rides of 56 years ago that began with members of the congress of racial Equality (CORE) that sought to fight racism and segregation in the south with non-violence demonstrations and the ones that these students did in 2011, the original ride filled with excitement at first and then with fear when the riders were attacked by the KKK and angry mobs at bus stations and the 2011 freedom rides filled with 40 students from different walks of life traveling with 5 heroes of the civil rights movement, learning about history and reliving it first hand during this 10 day trip. Some of the stories documented by these young freedom riders show us that there are still remnants of that same hate and discrimination of the 1960 decade; it happened to Doaa Dorgham, ironically, on the first day that she was embarking on the journey of the freedom riders, which is precisely to

Stanley Nelson chronicles the journey of a group of individuals, known as the Freedom Riders, whom fought for the rights of African Americans to have the same amenities and access as the Caucasians. The purpose of the Freedom Rides was to deliberately violate the Jim Crow laws of the south that prohibited blacks and whites from mixing together on buses and trains. Expectedly, many of the Freedom Riders were beaten and the majority was imprisoned. This carried on for the majority of 1961 and culminated with the Interstate Commerce Commission issuing an order to end the segregation in bus and rail stations. Nelson encapsulates this entire movement in about two hours. At the end of the two hours, the viewer is emotionally tied to the

This was unequal protection under the law. On May 20th,within 40 miles all sign of protection for the riders had disappeared. From Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution, gives Congress or the Federal government the authority and rights to organize the ICC, (the Interstate Commerce Commission.) The ICC was the desegregation of public transportation, busses can cross over state lines. Jim Lawson along with the other non violent protesters, had the right to protest, they were kept in jail, wrongly punished, taking part in the Lunch counter sit in starting in Greensboro. Did not receive dual process, The Habeas corpus is where a person may not be held by the government without a valid reason for being held.The whites who used force and violence did not get punished for their actions, nothing was thought of it. The Freedom Riders tactic was an interracial group ride through the south promoting the rights the supreme court said they could do. On Mother's Day, May 14th, the lead bus was firebombed, 12 rides hospitalized and the bus destroyed. The ride to Jacksonville was forced to protect the Constitutional Rights of the Freedom Riders, upon arrival the court accused the Riders of trespassing, they followed along with the plan to make sure they arrived safely, but they could chose to do whatever they wanted once the Riders were in their district. Other events that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement was in the Spring of 1960, sudden cease in the spending of money downtown with the intentions that pressure will change the rules and regulations. The National boycott spread to the North, and the whites started to become fearful. Throughout this time the African Americans remained calm, and continued to stand up for equality, they were determined to be free, violence was reported to

This group included both African Americans and whites. In 1961, thirteen African Americans and whites that were part of the freedom riders had left Washington, DC by bus. They left to test how well the bus companies in the South were following the integration laws. They were going to ride to New Orleans, Louisiana. The route would pass through many cites in the South.

The up to date dying of Rosa Parks refocused countrywide attention on one of the crucial beloved figures of the civil rights movement. However without the heroism of hundreds of unsung grass-roots activists, the action would not ever have complete what it did. In "Freedom Riders," Raymond Arsenault, a professor of history at the university of South Florida, rescues from obscurity the guys and women who, at high-quality individual threat, rode public buses into the South as a way to venture segregation in interstate travel. Drawing on individual papers, F.B.I. Documents and interviews with more than 200 contributors within the rides, Arsenault brings vividly to life a defining moment in modern American history.

In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The focus of his efforts was to register black voters in the South. Protesters attempting to march from Selma to the state capital were met with violent resistance by authorities. The violence forced President Johnson to introduce a federal voting-rights bill. Johnson introduced the bill in a speech to Congress, and using the language of Civil Rights singers saying, "We shall overcome." This was a legal decision that would shape public education from that time on.

They used “occupy” tactics to protest segregated bus terminals. They ignored the segregation signs and whites used the “colored” bathroom while the blacks used the “whites only” bathrooms. Many were arrested and unfortunately, some met with violent deadly white protests. One ended with white protestors catching a bus on fire with people on it, which got the attention of the world. This drew even more new Freedom Riders to the cause. After several months of Freedom Bus Rides, the Freedom Riders were victorious. In 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission put in place regulations prohibiting segregation in the interstate transit terminals. (Riders, Freedom

Some examples of these violence’s Arsenault mentions in the book are the mob who set buses on fire that freedom riders where inside of, to police officers were allowing Ku Klux Klan members free time to assault the riders at a the bus station before stopping them. Other struggles Freedom Riders faced where being arrested for disturbing the peace and trying to start a riot, when all they were doing was practicing their constitutional rights. Inside the jails they continued to face brutal punishment. The book also showcases how the Freedom Riders awakened the press, and even when many tried to write them off as the ones being in wrong, the nation saw the oppression Freedom Riders dealt with, and the courage and nonviolence they showed despite

Farmer, a young black boy who lived in South Mississippi, had lived in a very segregated area, so segregated to the point were he could not even buy himself a coke can at the local drug store, while the young white boy could. Farmer had felt it was to unfair, so in return, Farmer had started a campaign called, “Freedom Rides.” Freedom rides explained by Farmer is, “The plan was to have interracial groups riding Greyhound and Trailways buses, with the blacks in front and the whites in back, both refusing to move.” (King, Casey and Linda Barrett Osborne Pg. 254) As we can see, with Freedom Rides in play, is a campaign towards gaining rights. Making this decision had aroused much hate towards Farmer. In the text it states how he had received death threats from the KKK and more, “In fact, I was shot at by the Klan-----the Ku Klux Klan.” (King, Casey and Linda Barrett Osborne Pg. 254) This shows many people felt his decision was not right and many people thought he did not have the right to do that. But although this was the case, Farmer had not let this get to him. From the text it talks about how Farmer was not phased by the hate at all, Bernard Jarvis had asked whether he was phased by what happened, Farmer responded with, “No. Students from the student nonviolent coordinating

The freedom riders where a group of men and women both white and black that had got together to end segregation. Their whole response to this conflict was a peaceful response to segregation. How they were a peaceful response is when they all got sent to jail. They didn't fight back with the guards all they simply did was fill the jail up with more riders and and they sang. It did work, and the freedom riders did prove a point that everyone is equal and there is no reason why black people should be segregated and that racism

“Freedom Riders” is a documentary about the “nonviolent” civil rights movement against discrimination. The activists planned to ride the Freedom Bus down to the Deep South and try to bring attention to the unequal separation of race and Jim Crow laws. When President Kennedy inaugurated, he promoted and advocated for the Freedom of people all over the world except in the South of his own country.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a year-long protest, in which African-Americans refused to ride the segregated public buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Lasting approximately 381-days, the Montgomery Bus Boycott started on December 5, 1955, and ended on December 20, 1955 (Montgomery Bus Boycott, 2010). During this time period, Jim Crow laws had just become prohibited. However, Jim Crow laws were the way of life in the South, so even though they were prohibited they were still in full action and strength. Jim Crow laws were laws that enforced racial segregation in the South between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in 1954 (Urofsky, 2015). Racial segregation is the separation of groups of people by race (e.g. using separate drinking fountains) (Montgomery Bus Boycott, 2016). The Montgomery Bus Boycott was ignited four days prior, on December 1, 1955, by a courageous African-American woman, Rosa Parks, which refused to give up her seat to a white man (Montgomery Bus Boycott, 2010). This event marked the beginning of a huge turning point for the American Civil Rights Movement.

The March books were very meaningful to me in many ways; however there was a particular section in the book where it was the most meaningful. Which is when the John Lewis and many other participations were on the bus traveling to protest, they were also known as the “freedom riders”. However, they weren’t allowed to protest in on the buses because there were no bus drivers that would drive them, or they would be arrested, or they would be sent back to their home in cop cars. In fact, the part of the freedom rids that hit me the most would have to be when the Klu Klux Klan had raided one of the buses. This opened my eyes that the protesters faced death more often than I though.

One of the main things I learn from “Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice” is that no matter how bad things get, you should never give up on your dream. I think it's a concept the author doesn't really talk about, he focuses on the struggle and describes to us how bad it was for them, but what he doesn't notice is how he portrays the determination they had and the values they were taught. The author mentions the values the NAACP had and what they stood for, but he really doesn't tell us they weren't quitters. Nowadays we have many people can do great things, but because they are being discouraged by difficult situations of life they don't do much. I see a generation full of potential, but who also gets discouraged very easily,