Freedom Riders
1.
Freedom riders were civil rights supporters who protested the
continued segregation of buses and bus terminals in the Southern
United States. On segregated buses, African Americans were banned
from sitting in certain seats reserved for whites only. Segregated
terminals had separate facilities for whites and blacks. In 1946, the
Supreme Court of the United States had ruled that it was
unconstitutional for public buses that crossed state lines to be
segregated. In 1960, it made a similar ruling about bus terminals. The
freedom rides took place in 1961. At that time, most Southern States
still had laws segregating their buses and bus terminals.
On May 4, 1961, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a civil rights
group, organized the freedom rides. The rides were meant to draw
attention to the places where buses and terminals were still segregated.
Volunteers of different races participated in the rides. They included
many college students and members of the clergy. They traveled on
buses from Northern cities and Washington, D.C., to places in the
South. African American and white freedom riders sat together in all
parts of the buses. At bus terminals, they ignored the signs that
separated “white only” areas from those for “colored,” or African
American, patrons.
At first, state and local authorities ignored the freedom riders. But as
the riders traveled into Alabama and other states of the Deep South,
they met with resistance. Angry mobs of segregationists—people who
supported segregation—threw rocks at some buses. When the freedom
riders got off the buses, many of them were injured in conflicts with
crowds or the authorities. Hundreds were jailed. In May, a bus bound
for New Orleans was attacked and burned in Anniston, Alabama. On
May 20, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy sent federal
marshals to Alabama. He ordered them to keep the peace and make
sure that the freedom riders could travel in safety. By 1962,
segregation had ended in nearly all buses and bus terminals in the
United States.
Source: Murphy, Bruce Allen. "Freedom riders." World Book Student. World Book, 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2011
Source: http://www.xtimeline.com/__UserPic_Large/1674/ELT200803030732474588679.JPG
3.
Source : http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/Freedom_Riders.jpg
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Source : http://www.jackiewhiting.net/Collab/CivRtsWeb/Images/FreeRideMap.jpg
5.
John Dolan
Hi. My name is John Dolan, and I went on the Freedom Ride from Berkeley, leaving in June, 1961. These are
my answers to the questions you e-mailed me over a month ago. I apologize for the delay, but I have been
busy. Also, most of my answers will be succinct, and I would be glad to amplify certain points depending
upon your interest.
1.Please tell us something about your background:
I am a white male, born in 1941 in San Francisco, and educated in the public schools of the state of
California. My parents were not religious, but my grandparents were - Catholic on my father's side and
Mormon on my mother's. My father was a fan of FDR and an avid Democrat. My mother was apolitical. There
were two main influences that lead me to believe strongly in the universality of man.
First of all, the public schools of San Francisco, after WWII, felt it necessary to convince me that the US had
the right to bomb Japan and Germany because we were the "good guys" and they were the "bad guys" The
Germans and Japanese were wrong because they were racists and believed that certain races were superior
to others. We Americans believed in the equality of all peoples, and therefore we were right. This
propanganda succeeded and to this day I have a very strong belief that race is not a valid category by which
humans can be differentiated. The second influence was the Methodist Church. I did not attend church very
often but in high school (Hillsdale High in San Mateo) I did socialize with the Methodist Youth Fellowship. The
Methodists were very adament that Jesus loved all of us equally, and that any form of discrimination based
on race was very immoral.
By the time I graduated from high school I was becoming aware that the US was still plagued by the evils of
segregation, and in 1960, when I found out that Berkeley had a CORE chapter, I joined.
2. How did you become a Freedom Rider?:
As I mentioned above, I was a member of Berkeley CORE in 1961. After the first and pioneering group of
Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson, thereby preventing them from reaching New Orleans, which was
their goal, national CORE put out the call of the local chapters to send people to "flood the jails", which would
cost Hinds County alot of money. Ed Blankenheim came out to help us organize.
3. How did your family and friends react?:
My father disinherited me. My mother was worried about my safety. My friends in college supported me. My
older friends from high school were concerned I might become a communist.
4. Tell us about your journey:
I left Berkeley with several other Freedom Riders by train to LA, where more Freedom Riders joined, and
then we went by train to New Orleans. In New Orleans CORE trained us in non-violence, and then sent us in
a group to Jackson by train where they were expecting us. I was in a group of about 20, equally divided
between male/female, and black/white. In Jackson we quietly filed into the white only section of the depot
and were arrested.
5. Were you ever frightened or did you ever regret your decision?
During the Freedom Ride itself,I was frightened once - as we were crossing Texas late at night the train
slowed and came to a stop. Someone said the KKK had stopped the train and were going to kill us.
Fortunately that rumor was untrue. I was not frightened for the rest of the Freedom Ride because we had
international press and CORE lawyers to protect us. However, after I was let out of jail (we all spent 6 weeks
in jail), I spent the rest of the summer in New Orleans with two friends I had made, Frank Nelson and George
Blevins, helping CORE with their activities. Frank, George and I had become good friends because the
Freedom Riders were segregated in jail by gender and race, and we were the white males in our group.
During our stay in New Orleans we were arrested by the New Orleans police for "vagrancy" (we actually were
having dinner with two black females, Patricia and Carlene Smith, in their home). This so offended the racist
sensitivities of the cops that they arrested us, beat the crap out of us, and put us in jail. Fortunately the
CORE lawyers were able to get us out. Needless to say, I was very frightened at that time. I have never
regretted my decision. Everyone I have known since then has respected me for it. My father even put me
back in his will. In fact, when my youngest son was in the 3rd and 4th grades, his teachers had me talk to
his class on Martin Luther King's birthday about the Freedom Ride.
6. Did you encounter any vilence?:
As I said in #5, the only violence was later that summer by the New Orleans police. Frank and I spent about
a week in solitary, but we were not beaten.
7. Arrest data:
We all spent 6 weeks in jail. We were trying to cost Hinds County money, but we didn't want to stay the
entire 4 months. We compromised at 6 weeks, which was the longest we could stay in and still have the
option to post bail to get out. The first 3 or 4 days were spent in Hinds County jail. That stay was uneventful.
Then we were transferred to Mississippi State Penitentiary, the infamous Parchman Farm! Initially we were in
maximum security, which meant two shared a 6x9 cell. Frank and I were cellmates, and this is how we
became good friends. After a week, we had overflowed this unit, so the white males were sent to a first
offenders unit, which was a large room with about 40 cots and an adjoining shower/toilet unit as well as a
solitary unit. We were upset by the fact that blacks were still in maximum security, so several of us protested
enough that we spent about 4-5 days in solitary. In the month I was in the first offenders unit, I was able to
socialize with most of the white males. This was a very interesting experience for me, since most the of
Freedom Riders were very talented and resourceful people, and we were able to entertain ourselves quite
well. I have many memories about this, and I would like to discuss this face to face with others who were
there with me.
8. What did you do upon release?:
As I mentioned above, Frank, George, and I spent the rest of the summer helping New Orleans CORE in their
civil rights activities - mainly sitting in, handing out leaflets, and, on one occasion, I spoke at a rally in a
church. This period was an incredible experience for me. I lived for over a month in a black society which was
dominated by the young activists who were emerging from that generation of southern blacks. This was very
rewarding as well as edifying, and it helped shape the rest of my life.
9. What experience stands out most in your mind?:
It is difficult to pick out one experience. Mostly it was the camaderie and the feeling that we were doing
something constructive for America.
10. What have you done with your life since the Freedom Rides?:
A brief summary: a 30 year career in medicine, mostly in emergency medicine; two marriages and five
children (two adopted, one stepson, and one natural child by each of my wives); after retiring three years
ago I received a master's degree in history/humanities. I have lived my entire life in California, mostly in the
San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, and Davis. Now I live in a condo in Emeryville, which at the foot of the
San Franciso - Oakland Bay Bridge.
11. How has this experience affected you?:
It broadened my outlook in life, giving me an intense experience of doing something constructive and having
the privilege associating with many brave and creative people. Also, most importantly, it greatly strenthened
my belief in the universality of man - we are all God's children and should be given equal opportunity to
make of ourselves whatever we wish.
12. Any final thoughts?:
I find myself totally at odds with what passes for modern day civil rights. Modern "liberals" use blacks as a
special interest group. Rather than emphasizing equal opportunity, blacks are encouraged to push for special
rights due to them for whatever sins our ancestors committed. The purpose of the Freedom Ride was to
break the dependency that slavery and the Jim Crow system forced on black Americans. Contemporary "civil
rights" is aimed at maintaining the pernicious dependency that blacks have had on the "man". At this point in
my life I just shake my head in frustration and tell the younger generation that I'm "going fishin'".
I hope this has been helpful to you. Thanks for allowing me to tell my story.
Yours truly, John Dolan
Source: http://www.freedomridersfoundation.org/id21.html
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Source : http://www.freedomridersfoundation.org/id17.html
7.
8.
Source : http://www.freedomridersfoundation.org/id17.html
9.
http://www.life.com/gallery/23102/image/50551214#index/0
Click the link above to see a Freedom Riders slide show.
9.
During the Freedom Rides, SNCC members
rode buses through the deep southern
states where discrimination and segregation
were most prominent.
The concept originated in the 1940's with
CORE, a non-violent group out of Chicago
trying to end racial discrimination. In 1947,
responding to a Supreme Court decision
outlawing discrimination in interstate travel,
CORE sponsored a Freedom Ride that they
called a "Journey of Reconciliation." They rode buses throughout much
of the upper south and established that most people would not create
incident for those choosing to sit where they pleased.
The First Ride
A 1961 Supreme Court decision to end desegregation not only in travel,
but also in bus terminal facilities, prompted a new set of Freedom Rides
and SNCC's involvement. In 1961 a group of seven black and six white
people, including John Lewis, left Washington, D.C. for New Orleans on
two buses, a Trailways bus and a Greyhound bus. The group made it
through Virginia and North Carolina without incident.
At the Greyhound bus station in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the group
encountered violence. A mob of twenty attacked the group, and John
Lewis was the first to be hit as he approached the white waiting room.
Police eventually interfered and the group was allowed access to the
white waiting room. The journey continued to Georgia. After leaving
Atlanta, the Greyhound bus was stopped as it entered Alabama. A mob
surrounded the bus, the tires were slashed, and the bus was set on fire.
The bus was burned to the ground, but the group took another bus and
continued the rides.
Meanwhile, the Trailways bus arrived in Anniston, Alabama where the
driver would not continue until the group sat segregated. A violent group
boarded the bus and beat the African-Americans sitting in the front,
causing several injuries until the group was forced to the back of the
bus. A mob carrying iron pipes greeted them on arrival in Birmingham,
Alabama. Many were battered, knocked unconscious and hospitalized.
The group gathered the next day and prepared to head on to
Montgomery, but no bus would take them. A mob gathered as they
waited in the white waiting room, and finally the group decided to fly
back to New Orleans, ending the first ride.
The Rides Continue
SNCC was determined to continue the rides to prove that violence could
not stop them. SNCC, along with the Nashville Student Movement,
organized a group that met in Nashville, determined to go on to
Birmingham and Montgomery, then on to Mississippi and New Orleans.
Some members of the first ride, including John Lewis, were involved in
this ride.
The group of eight African-Americans and two whites was arrested in
Birmingham and spent the night in jail. They were literally driven out of
town by the Police Chief "Bull" O'Connor, who left the group stranded on
the Tennessee border. The group returned to Birmingham and sang
freedom songs outside the terminal.
While this was going on, President John F. Kennedy was concerned
about the violence and bus burning that had occurred during the first
Freedom Ride the previous week. He telephoned the governor of
Alabama and insisted that it was the government's responsibility to
guarantee safe passage of interstate travelers. A bus with police and
helicopter escort was then sent to Birmingham to take the Freedom
Rides on to Montgomery. Once the group arrived in Montgomery
however, the protection disappeared and more violence ensued. A
crowd of three hundred gathered. Approximately twenty-five of them
armed with clubs and sticks began beating the newsmen and
cameramen.
James Zwerg, a young white man, got off the bus and was greeted with
chants of "Kill the nigger-loving son of a bitch!" He was beaten to the
ground and never attempted to defend himself, even as his face was
stomped into the ground. The mob turned its attention to the rest of the
riders and everyone was beaten.
After what has been reported as anywhere from five to twenty minutes,
police came and used tear gas to break up the crowd, which had grown
to a thousand. The riders, after being hospitalized and seeking refuge in
the homes of local black people, gathered at Ralph Abernathy's First
Baptist Church in Montgomery. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. flew in and
spoke to a crowd of twelve hundred. President Kennedy called the
situation "a source of deepest concern."
With a renewed sense of faith and purpose, the freedom riders
continued, escorted by national guardsmen. In Jackson, Mississippi, the
group was arrested for using white restrooms and waiting rooms. They
spent the night in jail. Over the next several months, riders continued to
journey to Jackson, in attempt to desegregate the facilities there. The
Freedom Rides had been successful in the Upper south but were halted
in the Deep South, leaving the riders wounded but determined.
Source: http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/rides.html