During the Civil Rights Movement, the Freedom Riders were one of the many prominent figures in bringing awareness of racial segregation.
The court cases, Irene Morgan versus Commonwealth of Virginia in 1946 and Boynton versus Virginia in 1960,
ruled that segregated interstate travel was unconstitutional.
The apparent disregard of these cases led to civil rights activists wanting to test the non-enforcement in 1961.
The first ride was initiated by Congress of Racial Equality director, James Farmer in Washington DC, May Fourth.
The plan was to ride through various southern states with a mixed group of 13 riders.
The police in conjunction with the Ku Klux Klan planned organized violence in Anniston and Birmingham.
The riders were only able to escape due to an exploding fuel tank that scared the mob temporarily in Anniston.
The riders were still pursued even after their release in the hospital all the way to Birmingham.
The original riders finally abandoned their ride for they have already achieved nationwide attention to racial segregation
The top is the exploding fuel tank of the bus and the bottom is a glimpse of mob attacks.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee quickly added new riders on the bus on May 19.
Buses only gave rides to the riders in Birmingham because of governmental pressure.
The riders were badly beaten in Montgomery, and were left for dead.
Fortunately, local blacks saved their lives and were relocated to a church which was surrounded by a mob of more than 3,000 whites on May 21.
This enormous group was put to rest due to president John F. Kennedy’s intervention.
That there are some federal troops protecting the many blacks coming out the church.
On May 22, more riders came to replace the wounded ones. Now they were protected by the state, but were immediately arrested for disturbing the peace.
Because of the many arrests, jail cells started overflowing, prompting attorney general Robert Kennedy to file a petition to the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The picture displays some riders getting arrested and put into police vans.
At the end of September, Robert Kennedy’s petition finally passed.
As a result of this, segregation from interstate transportation, bathrooms, and other public facilities were now prohibited.
