Freedom+Riders

  =Freedom Riders = = = = =

==Overview == = = The Freedom Riders were a group people, mostly black but some white, who disagreed with the treatment of African-Americans. They came from the group CORE, which stands for Congress of Racial Equality. These people stand up for everything they believe in. They wanted to test the Supreme Courts decision in the Boynton v. Virginia case. Which had made segregation on interstate buses and railways unconstitutional. The first trip involved seven blacks and six whites. They left Washington D.C in two buses on May 4, 1961. There mission was to travel down to south and see if the Congress's law was enforced.


 


 During the first leg of the trip, only minor hostility was encountered. A few name callings and punches from ongoing people. Within the second week that changed. On May 14, things got brutal. They were attacked by an angry mob outside of Anniston, Alabama. On May 14, things got brutal. They were attacked by an angry mob outside of Anniston, Alabama. The riders were attacking by an angry mob. The mob threw rocks, slashed the tires and started the bus on fire and burned it. One white man even said "burn them alive" with the people still inside. Once the


riders escaped they were brutally beaten by the crowd. The riders lay on the ground, bleeding, lungs and frightened. Though no one died from this incident, it showed how little the laws were enforced.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The group CORE believed the riding should not end due to violence. For seven continuous months, over 400 people volunteered to ride the buses dow <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">n to the south. Once they were caught, they were arrested and thrown in jail. In jail they were treated poorly. Unnoticed and uncared for. The beatings w <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ent on for months. Don't think it went unnoticed. People were taking <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> a stand and change was in the midst. Equality was just around the corner.

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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.4pt;">**Freedom Riders from the burned bus:**

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;"> Genevieve Hughes, Bert Bigelow, Hank Thomas, Jimmy McD <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;">onald, Mae Frances Moultrie, Joe Perkins, Ed Blankenheim <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt;"> // **Quote from Hughes, inside hospital after bombed bus:** // <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;"> "There was no doctor at the hospital, only a nurse. They had me breathe pure oxygen but that only burned my thro <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;">at and did not relieve the coughing. I was burning hot and my clothes were a wet mess. After awhile Ed and Bert were brought in <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;">, chok <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;">ing. We all lay on our beds and coughed. Finally a woman doctor came in -- she had to look up smoke poisoning before treating us. They brought in the Negro man who had been in the back of the bus with me. I pointed to him and told them to take care <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;"> of him. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;"> But they did not bring him into our emergency room. I understand that they did not do <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;">anything at all for Hank. Thir <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;">teen in all were brought in, and three were admitted: Ed, the Negro man and myself. They gave me <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: 10.4pt; font-weight: normal;"> a room and I slept. When I woke up the nurse asked me if I could talk with the FBI. The FBI man did not care about us, but only the bombing." <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">  <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">

News Articles
Eugene Register-Guard Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

References (2009-10.1.2.G)
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