Personal Narrative: The Freedom Riders

570 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History grade 12 civil rights movement

In 1961 I heard of a group called The Freedom Riders that was started in 1961 to protest southern segregation by riding buses through the southern states. The group consisted of 13 African-American and white civil rights activists who was organized by the Congress of Racial Equality. When I heard of the Freedom Riders ,I Thought to myself that this would be a good chance to fight for my people and fight against Jim Crow laws. We left Washington, D.C, on the Greyhound bus on may 4, 1961. I remember from 1961 the launch of a protest known as the Freedom Riders. I was getting tired of the segregated bus stations and public buses so when I heard of the Freedom Riders I knew that I had to join. We left washington,D.C on May 4, 1961 on …show more content…

Upon arrival I looked out the window of the bus and seen a big angry mob of about 200 white thugs surrounding the bus. The bus had to pass the bus station and keep going but the mob followed us in automobiles. I was afraid because of what had happened earlier so I just hoped that they would go away. All of a sudden I heard a bang. The tires were slashed by the white supremacists. They were also throwing rocks and bricks at the bus breaking the windows. The bus driver managed to get us a few more miles out of town but when he stopped to repair the tires the white supremacist fire bombed the bus. I remembered trying to escape the bus as it burst into flames. The white mob barricaded the door of the bus while yelling out “fry the goddamn n!ggers”. I remember trying to escape while the bus filled with thick black smoke . The sound of warning shots coming from state troopers and the sound of a exploding gas tank forced the mob to back off. When I escaped the burning bus members of the mob started to attack us. They attacked us with lead pipes and wooden bats. I felt shocked that these people could actually do something this horrible. Our freedom ride was ended. I heard that the other trailways bus experienced the same fate when they reached Birmingham, Alabama. When news of what has happen to the freedom riders got out to the public 100s of new freedom riders took the plunge and challenged jim crow laws

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of the Documentary: The Freedom Riders

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    This documentary is based on Raymond Arsenault’s book “Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice”. It was a radical idea organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) that alarmed not only those who challenged the civil rights but also deliberately defied Jim Crows Law that were enacted between 1876 and 1965, by challenging the status quo by riding the interstate buses in the South in mixed racial groups. This law segregated public services like public transportation, public places, public schools, restrooms, restaurants, and even drinking fountains for black and whites. Though these activists were faced by various bitter racism, mob violence and imprisonment, they were successful in desegregating the buses and bus facilities in the Deep South in September 22, 1961. They strove for nonviolent protest for justice and freedom of African Americans freedom.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: A Patriot During The American Revolution

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Line up Soldiers!” The Red-Coat was screaming at us the second we got off the bus telling us to line up and to be quiet. My fifth grade class was on a field trip on this windy November morning. We were at Riley’s Farm and about to live for a day like we were in 1765 as a Patriot during the American Revolution. We were on the bus for 2.5 hours and finally we arrived.

    Read More

  • The Freedom Riders: Sacrifices in the South

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    On May 4, 1961, the Freedom Riders left the safety of the integrated, northern city of Washington D.C. to embark on a daring journey throughout the segregated, southern United States (WGBH). This group of integrated white and black citizens rode together on buses through different towns to test the effectiveness of newly designed desegregation laws in bus terminals and areas surrounding them (Garry). Founded by the Congress of Racial Equality (Garry) , or CORE, the first two Freedom Ride buses included thirteen people as well as three journalists to record what would become imperative historical events in the Civil Rights Movement. This group of fifteen people would begin to emerge as an organization that would eventually reach 400 volunteers (WGBH). Those involved were mostly young, college students whose goal it was, as said by the CORE director James Farmer, to “…create a crisis so that the federal government would be compelled to enforce the law.” (Smith). But on their journey throughout these southern states, the Freedom Riders faced many challenges, threats, and dangers.

    Read More

  • Freedom Riders: Rebels with a Cause

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Freedom Rides were a vital part of history because they set the foundation for racial equality throughout the South, whether it be public restrooms, dining rooms or transportation. The Freedom Rides was a landmark event in the civil rights movement. The 1961 Freedom Rides were a series of organized interstate bus rides to the South, meant to challenge the discriminatory Jim Crow Laws. Although the Rides were a form of civil disobedience, technically, they were protesting peacefully to maintain the federal laws against discrimination. The event began when the Fellowship of Reconciliation founded the Congress of Racial Equality with the vision of a nonviolent, interracial civil rights organization in mind.

    Read More

  • Australian Freedom Riders

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1964 there was a protest outside the US consulate in Canberra that two thousand people had attended to protest about racial segregation and civil rights in the United States. Many people of the general public stated things such as if protesters are going to so much trouble why not protest about racial segregation within our own country. These comments had lead to the making of our own Australian Freedom Riders which were based on the American Freedom Riders who were making a difference with civil rights and discrimination in America. They travelled across America to raise awareness of the issues when it came to the African-American’s rights and they helped achieve equality. The Australian Freedom Riders helped in achieving freedom for the Indigenous Australians just like the Americans.

    Read More

  • Freedom Ride Essay

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Australians got the ideas of non-violent direct action from Martin Luther King Jr and the bus trip going around a significant amount of distance protesting and raising awareness for the affected race, when a group of students went to the United States to protest against racial segregation in 1964. The events that had helped the 1965 Freedom Rides by SAFA to become a success, in the United States, include the Birmingham Campaign and Martin Luther King Jr’s

    Read More

  • The role of young people in the civil rights movement of the early and late 1960s

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Freedom Rides took place in the early May, 1961 where two groups of students riding in integrated Greyhound buses would stop at rest stops and blacks would go into white only bathrooms and whites would go into black only bathrooms. These bus rides were supposed to start at Washington DC and go on straight through the Deep South. These students were trying to protest interstate segregation laws and put an end to them. The trip went smoothly at first, but later everything went south as one bus got burned and the people inside were beaten. The second bus was stopped not to long after and everyone onboard was beaten and put in a hospital. Neither bus made it to their destination but it did put an immense amount of attention on them as a multitude of people followed in their footsteps and over a hundred buses became dragged into a freedom ride. (A Time for Justice )This shows how much these students were willing to take as in being beaten without fighting back and it also shows the amount of dedication involved.

    Read More

  • Ain't Scared of your Jails

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    The focus of the video documentary "Ain't Scared of your Jails" is on the courage displayed by thousands of African-American people who joined the ranks of the civil rights movement and gave it new direction. In 1960, lunch counter sit-ins spread across the south. In 1961, Freedom Rides were running throughout the southern states. These rides consisted of African Americans switching places with white Americans on public transportation buses. The whites sat in the back and black people sat in the front of the public buses. Many freedom riders faced violence and defied death threats as they strived to stop segregation by participating in these rides. In interstate bus travel under the Mason-Dixon Line, the growing movement toward racial equality influenced the 1960 presidential campaign. Federal rights verses state rights became an issue.

    Read More

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Argumentative Essay

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The bus traveled downtown alone, then pulled into an oddly quiet Greyhound terminal...Passengers began to disembark...Dozens, hundreds, soon more than 1,000 enraged people swarmed the area” (Bausum). Unfortunately, the defenseless Riders were beaten with baseball bats, metal pipes, lengths of rubber hose, and worse; additionally, state troopers and even local police (due to an arrangement with the KKK) did not intervene until much later. Also, there was strategy to the violence, with newscasters and reporters being attacked first, followed by two hours of rampaging and the refusal of admittance of several injured Riders at hospitals. However, the violence that was intended to end the Riders once and for all just focused the spotlight on their cause, as seen especially by a broadcast that night: “That evening citizens...tuned into their nightly news and watched as Jim Zwerg, [the single white Rider], bruised and battered, lying flattened on his hospital bed, delivered a stunning statement: 'Segregation must be stopped. It must be broken down. We're going on to New Orleans no matter what. We're dedicated to this. We'll take hitting. We'll take beating. We're willing to accept death'" (Bausum). It seemed as if Zwerg’s words were a call to action as hundreds of people of all kinds became Riders, travelling into the deep South to try and end segregation. Finally, on September 22, 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission abolished all segregation from bus travel throughout the nation, and the official Rides stopped at the end of 1962. After facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles of racism, violence, and persecution, the Freedom Riders’ goal had been achieved at last: desegregated buses and bus terminals all throughout the United

    Read More

  • Freedom Riders Essay

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1961, a brave group called the Freedom Riders traveled through the states of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama to reach the destination of New Orleans, Louisiana (“The Freedom Rides”). The reason this group was sent out on this task was to prove to the Kennedy Administration that separating black and whites within bus terminals was unlawful (“The Freedom Rides”). The Jim Crow Laws were the laws that challenged them the most (“2011 Pietricola Websites’”). These laws set rules where the African Americans could sit while traveling on buses, in movie theatres, restaurants, hotels, and public schools (“2011 Pietricola Websites’”). The Freedom Riders were made up of seven African American individuals and six white individuals (Hynson 18,19). This was to have people notice that both black and white people disagree with the laws of segregation in the South (“2011 Pietricola Websites’”). Seventy five percent were between the ages 18 and 30 years old (Holmes). The majority of the group was college students (Holmes). Volunteers from 40 states got training in non-violence tactics (Holmes). Those who couldn’t handle the pushing, spitting, and hitting were rejected from the rides (Holmes). Congress of Racial Equality, also known as C.O.R.E., was the org...

    Read More

  • The Counterculture

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the sixties, many Americans tried to stop the progress minorities were making with the civil rights movement. In 1961, a group known as the Congress of Racial Equality was attacked by mobs, while the group was testing the compliance of court orders banning segregation on interstate buses and trains and in terminal facilities (Foner 914).

    Read More

  • The Australian Freedom Ride: Inspiration And Role Models

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Freedom ride of Australia occurred on February 12th 1965, led by Charlie Perkins. 29 members of the student action for aborigines group departed the university of sydney by bus bound for regional towns across New South Wales. Students wanted to shine spotlight on racism and the poor state of Aboriginal health, education and housing. The Australian freedom ride was able to achieve all their pivotal outcomes, mostly due

    Read More

  • Civil Rights Dbq

    441 Words  | 1 Pages

    There was a variety of ways that people protest against discrimination. Some citizens both black and white would do peaceful sit-ins where they would go into segregated restaurants with African Americans sit while workers and other customers would antagonize those involved in the sit-in. In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to white person and move to the back, this lead to her being put jail but, this caused an outraged of marches and freedom rides. The freedom riders were people who rode interstate buses in the segregated south, to prove that segregation on buses was not necessary.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Freedom Riders: The Documentary by Stanley Nelson

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 riders. For the sake of this analysis, I will focus on a portion towards the end of the film that gives us a sense of what kind of emotions victory evoked from those vested in the Freedom Rides. Nelson’s pairing of music and song coupled with a mixture of pictures and footage provides great emphasis to the subject matter while emotionally connecting the viewer.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: The Fight For Civil Rights

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bad schools, fewer opportunities, and higher danger risks are all effects of living a harsh, unequal life to others. People had to work for civil rights for themselves and their races but faced many challenges. People making huge civil rights movements were hated on, angrily beaten, and targeted by people of other races who considered themselves superior to African Americans all because of the color of their skin. People who hated African American’s movements and tried to break them apart caused issues and made it harder for them to achieve their much wanted and deserved goals. All they needed was the support of others to achieve what they wanted. Both sources show the hardships they went through and everything it took to gain the rights they

    Read More

More about Personal Narrative: The Freedom Riders

Open Document