After the Second World War the civil rights movement in the USA decided to challenge segregation through direct action. In many states in the South public transport was still segregated. A group of civil rights activists from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) decided to ride federal buses across the South while refusing to respect the segregation laws. Blacks would sit in the whites’ area and vice versa. Thirteen freedom riders set out on 4 May 1961 to travel from Washington, DC to New Orleans. Although the freedom riders suffered serious assaults their campaign resulted in the end of segregation on interstate travel by 1 November 1961.
James Farmer (one of the founders of CORE) spoke of his motivation to take part in the freedom rides:
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
