Freedom+Rides+1961

The 1961 Freedom Rides was a series of organized bus rides meant to end discrimination in the Southern states. In 1946, the Supreme Court made a ruling that ended segregation on interstate public transportation. The Interstate Commerce Commission failed to enforce the Supreme Court rulings. The first Freedom Rides were on May 4, 1961, when two buses began a journey from Washington D.C., and ended in New Orleans, Louisiana. Volunteer riders were both black and white, and all they did was ignore any Jim Crow laws. They were not breaking any federal law, however they were punished by the individual southern states. Some were arrested, but most dealt with violence from police officials, residents, and the Ku Klux Klan. This attracted the media, so the government had to intervene. President John F. Kennedy threatened the governors of Alabama and Mississippi, if they did not protect a second Freedom Ride with National Guard troops. On May 29, 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission was ordered to follow the 1955 Supreme Court ruling. [|Freedom Rides]



 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8CAKAXR-AM&feature=related
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