The Freedom Riders: The Civil Rights Movement

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The Freedom Riders Matthew Williams Baker College of Flint Kim Rosebohm Eng 102 (0305) Essay 2 Aug 3, 2011 The Civil Right Movement (The Freedom Riders) The Freedom Riders were a group of college students and leaders of various racial equality organizations, both blacks and whites, which tested the law of integration for public transportation. The law was instated, but Alabama especially did not follow it. The Freedom Riders rode buses into the cities to see if the townspeople accepted or declined the new law. They turned ended up beating, pummeling, and chasing the riders out of town with the white mobs. The Freedom Riders violently fought the segregation of blacks and whites for public transportation systems, and their victory…show more content…
By the end of June, 163 Freedom Riders had been convicted in Jackson and many were jailed in Parchman. On June 15, 1961 the first set of Freedom Riders were sent from Hinds County Prisons to Parchman. The first group sent to the farm was 45 males Freedom Riders, 29 blacks accompanied by 16 whites. The prison authorities forced the freedom riders to remove their clothing and undergo strip searches. After the strip search, they were given clothes that did not fit them to make them feel uncomfortable as possible. They were not allowed items such as pencils and paper, and they were given a bible, an aluminum cup and a tooth brush. They were all in a 6x8 feet cell with a toilet and sink on the back wall, and a bunk bed without…show more content…
In November 1961, months after beating in Anniston, Alabama, the federal government began to enforce a 1955 Interstate Commerce Commission Ruling, and a 1960 Supreme Court Ruling. One might argue that sit-in movement and the Freedom Rider led to the march on Washington, the Voting Rights Act, and other revolutionary changes in our society. Why did they stop there? And where are today’s Freedom Riders? Today’s young people faces as many internal as external challenges. Too many generation college students do not enjoy the parental or community support that first generation college students enjoyed in the days of Freedom Riders. We cannot expect the young people to be Freedom Rides unless we raised them as Freedom Riders. But we cannot raise them up as Freedom Riders unless we are willing to challenge the status quo for freedom ourselves. As we can see for ourselves that our society changed because of the Freedom Riders, and those Freedom Riders represent the possibility of social change. Even though there still problem but we as a people have to step up and make a

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