Freedom riders were non-violent civil rights

activist made up of mostly African Americans

& White Americans to fight against bus

segregation in the south.

SegregationThe separation of whites from “persons of color” in public transportation and schools. Generally, anyone of ascertainable or

strongly suspected black ancestry in any degree was for this purpose a “person of color”;

C.O.R.ECongress Of Racial Equality was an interracial American organization established by James Farmer in 1942 to improve

race relations and end discriminatory policies through direct-action projects. He founded CORE as a vehicle for the nonviolent approach to combating racial prejudice that was inspired by Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi.

Ku Klux KlanEither of two distinct U.S. hate organizations that have employed terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda. One

group was founded immediately after the Civil War and lasted until the 1870s; the other began in 1915 and has continued to the present.

AmbushThe oldest, most primitive field tactics are those that rely on concealment and surprise

CourageousThe quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

AnnistonA City In Alabama

DegradationThe act of degrading or the state of being degraded.

Interstate Commerce CommissionA former independent federal agency that supervised and set rates for carriers that transported goods and people between

states.

DiscriminationThe act of discriminating.

Journey of ReconciliationWas a form of non-violent direct action to challenge segregation laws on interstate buses in the Southern United States.

December 1st, 1955 Rosa Parks (a middle age tailor assistant from Montgomery, Alabama) refused to give up her seat 2 a white man. Refusing to do so caused in her arrest.

After her arrest Martin Luther King Jr. helped organize protest against bus segregation. It was official blacks in Montgomery would refuse to ride the buses until they were completely integrated .

For the next 13 months the 17,000 blacks caught rides from the small car –owning black population of the city.

Transport segregation continued in some parts of the united states. So in 1961 a civil rights group C.O.R.E began to organize freedom rides. After 3 days of training in non violent techniques black &whites volunteered to sit next to each other while they traveled through the deep south.

The freedom riders were spit into 2 buses. They traveled in integrated seating & visited “white only” restaurants.

When they reached ANNISTON on mothers day May14 ne of the 2 buses were attacked by men armed with clubs, bricks, iron pipes and knives. The bus was bombed and the mob held the doors with the intent on buring the riders to death (they all survived).

The bus that Survived traveled to Birmingham Alabama they were also attacked by a huge mob. After being dragged off the bus the mob proceeded on with beating them with baseball bats and lead piping.

The Ku Klux Klan hoped that those violent treatment would stop other young people from taking part in Freedom Rides.

But over the next 6 months time over a thousand people took part in Freedom Rides. Eventually the lost of revenue became too much & a decision by the supreme court forced the Montgomery bus company to accept integration.

Zwerg: As we were going from Birmingham to Montgomery, we'd look out the windows and we were kind of overwhelmed with the show of force -- police cars with sub-machine guns attached to the backseats, planes going overhead... We had a real entourage accompanying us. Then, as we hit the city limits, it all just disappeared. As we pulled into the bus station a squad car pulled out -- a police squad car. The police later said they knew nothing about our coming, and they did not arrive until after 20 minutes of beatings had taken place. Later we discovered that the instigator of the violence was a police sergeant who took a day off and was a member of the Klan. They knew we were coming. It was a set-up.

Q: You were attacked when you arrived at the bus station? Zwerg: The idea had been that cars from the community would meet us.

We'd disperse into these cars, get out into the community, and avoid the possibility of violence. And the next morning we were to come back to the station and I would use the colored services and they would go to some of the white services -- the restroom, the water fountain, etc. And then you'd get on the bus and go to the next city. It was meant to be as non-violent as possible, to avoid confrontation as much as possible.

Well, before we got off the bus, we looked out and saw the

crowd. You could see things in their hands -- hammers, chains, pipes... there was some conversation about it. As we got off the bus, there was some anxiety. We started looking for the cars. But the mob had surrounded the bus station so there was no way cars could get in and we realized at that moment that we were going to get it.

There was a fellow, a reporter, with an old boom mike and he was panning the crowd. And that's when this heavy-set fellow in a white T-shirt... he had a cigar as I remember... came out and grabbed the mike and jumped on it... just smashed it... basically telling the press, "Back off! You are not going to take any pictures of this. You better stay out or you're going to get it next." You could hear crowd yelling and of course a lot of them were, "Get the nigger-lover!" I was the only white guy there.

I bowed my head and asked God to give me the strength and love that I would need, that I put my life in his hands, and to forgive them. And I had the most wonderful religious experience. I felt a presence as close to me as breath itself, if you will, that gave me peace knowing that whatever came, it was okay. Before I opened my eyes, I was grabbed. I was pulled over a railing and thrown to the ground. I remember trying to get up on all fours because you try to get back to your group.

One of the things that I alluded to earlier was the strength we got from one another. To this day I'm sure I'm not the most nonviolent person in the world, but the strength of those people with me gave me strength beyond my own capabilities. Just as when we would see someone else being beaten, our hearts went to them and our strength went to them.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEwPCm1

usPw&feature=related – Freedom Riders

Trailer