US History CP
KHS 2014-15
Freedom Riders
American Experience/PBS
Questions after viewing.
Before you respond, review your film notes AND read the pre-viewing pages of the guide, found on
the website calendar.
1. What words do people in the film use to describe the state of race relations at the time of the Freedom
Rides?
2. a. Why do you think activists decided to focus their desegregation efforts on interstate buses?
b. Why were buses important?
c. What did buses represent?
3. a. Who were the Freedom Riders?(This question is not asking for their names.)
b. Why did people join the Freedom Rides?
4. a. How would you explain why interstate bus travel was still not desegregated after two Supreme Court
rulings called for its desegregation (Morgan v Virginia [1946] and Boynton v Virginia [1960])?
b. Why weren’t the Supreme Court rulings enforced?
5. a. When prejudice and racism are supported by both custom and law, (as was true in the South up
through much of the 1960s), what can be done to create a more inclusive society?
b. How do you explain why there is often so much resistance to change?
6. a. How does nonviolent direct action expose injustice?
b. Why was it (nonviolent direct action) such an effective strategy for bringing about change during the
civil rights movement? (not just during the Freedom Rides but throughout the movement)
7. a. What role did the media play in the Freedom Rides?
b. How do media shape our understanding of the issues of our time?
8. What does the story of the Freedom Riders suggest about the role of citizens in shaping democracy?