After the Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public transportation, restaurants and waiting rooms unconstitutional in 1960, so-called Freedom Riders / Freedom Rides emerged from the already existing American civil rights movement. Their goal was to compare practice and law in the Southern States of the USA and to demand / sue for implementation. Committed to non-violent resistance, the first Freedom Ride left Washington D.C. for New Orleans on May 4, 1961 with seven black and six white passengers. Between May and December, there were about 60 more rides, with about 440 people participating. In many places, the consistently peaceful and nonviolent protests were met with brutal hostility, attacks, and an enormous number of arrests. There was no political support from President John F. Kennedy.
Goals
Goals
Control and implementation of the abolition of state-sanctioned racial segregation, which was prohibited in public transport, restaurants and waiting rooms from 1960 by the Supreme Court decision. If local practice did not conform to the general law, it was enforced. Following the Freedom Rides, students at the University of Sydney organized non-violent actions against racial discrimination against Aboriginies in 1965.
Outcomes
Outcomes
Hostilities and brutal violence in response to non-violent resistance, as well as numerous arrests of Freedom Riders for trespassing, unlawful assembly and violating state and local laws.
On 26 September 1961, the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) finally decided to remove all segregation zone signage - the Freedom Riders had achieved their goal after much suffering but without the use of violence.
On 26 September 1961, the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) finally decided to remove all segregation zone signage - the Freedom Riders had achieved their goal after much suffering but without the use of violence.
Freedom Riders attacked, 1961: A mob of white people beat Freedom Riders in Birmingham. This picture was reclaimed by the FBI from a local journalist who also was beaten and whose camera was smashed. Photo: Tommy Langston, Birmingham Post-Herald. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Riders#/media/File:Freedom_Riders_attacked.jpg
A mugshot of Miller G. Green at the time of his arrest for his participation in the Freedom Rides. Photo: Eric Etheridge, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Miller_Green_mug.jpg#/media/File:Miller_Green_mug.jpg
Historic marker commemorating the violence at Trailways Terminal, 901 Noble St. in Anniston, Alabama: a group of young white men pushed aboard a bus carrying Freedom Riders to enforce segregated seating: Whites in front, Blacks in back. The men beat the riders and forced them to separate. Mural. Photo: Mark Michalovic, 2012, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Riders#/media/File:249_The_Other_Bus.jpg
