Riding Jim Crow:
The Pivotal Role of the Students in the Freedom Rides of 1961
Kendra Bertschy
History 400
Professor Douglass Sackman
11 May, 2007
Bertschy, 2
It was May 9, 1961 when the Freedom Riders reached Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The Freedom Riders were a bi-racial group, led by the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE), which had set out to test the South’s cooperation with the Supreme Court's
decisions on interstate travel in Boynton v. Virginia. That decision determined that
forced segregation of interstate travelers on busses and in bus facilities was
unconstitutional. The group traveled on Greyhound and Trailways busses and
intentionally violated the state segregation laws to expose what they anticipated would be
the state governments’ unconstitutional reactions.1 The Freedom Riders had all applied
to be a part of this journey and upon their acceptance they met up in Washington D.C. on
May 4, 1961 and the thirteen black and white Freedom Riders attempted to ride the
busses all the way to New Orleans. The Freedom Riders were activists from various
organizations with many different occupations; most of them were students.2
Rock Hill was going to be a new experience for the Freedom Riders since this
was the first stop in the Deep South. Even before reaching the South, the Riders were
anticipating great hostility and John Lewis, a student and Freedom Rider, stated that it
was as if they were going into the “belly of the segregated beast.”3 On their journey thus
far, the group had faced no opposition, but this stop would be their first real test.
Everyone was excited and yet very nervous to see what would await their group when
they pulled into the bus station. It was John Lewis’ turn to test the facilities to ensure that
they were desegregated. Lewis was the first one off of the bus and as soon as he stepped
onto the ground in Rock Hill, a group of twenty to thirty white men rushed at him. They
1
August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, “The First Freedom Ride,” Pylon. Vol. 30. No. 3. (3rd Qtr., 1969),
213.
2
Stanford Wexler, The Civil Rights Movement: An Eyewitness History, (New York: Facts on File, 1999),
116.
3
Herb Boyd, We Shall Overcome, (Naperville: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2004), 90.
Bertschy, 3
started beating him just for exiting the bus, kicking and punching him until he was on the
ground and bleeding. Lewis, a student from Nashville, held strong to the teachings of
non-violence and did not retaliate against his attackers.
Later, Lewis would describe his participation in the Freedom Rides as a
mandatory experience. It was essential that he continue the Ride for himself; like most
students, this was something with which he felt compelled to be involved.4 Even though
he was violently beaten on several occasions and even jailed without having broken the
federal law, just southern Jim Crow laws, he would not waiver toward the cause. He
stated:
Truth cannot be abandoned, even in the face of pain and injury, even in the face
of death. Once the truth has been recognized and embraced – in this case, the
truth of the absolute moral invalidity of racial segregation and the necessity of
ending it – backing away is not an option. It is simply not a choice.5
The white mob left as quickly as it had come but it had left its marks on Lewis and made
it clear to the Riders that they would be in for a difficult ride; the South would not change
without a fight. As Lewis made clear, though, the young people involved in this
movement were willing to face severe hardships in order to reach their goal of racial
equality.
Historians disagree about the importance of the students throughout the Rides.
After partially completing one attempt at integrating the South, the Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE) pulled out of their operation and student organizations took complete
4
Some of the students encountered mental health problems upon their early departure of the Freedom
Rides. When some of the students returned, they were so distraught about not being a part of the Rides that
they turned to drugs, alcohol, and crime. Others describe developing profound personal depression after
quitting. David Halberstam, The Children (New York: Random House, 1998), 358.
5
John Lewis with Michael D’Orso, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement (San Diego: A
Harvest Book, 1998), 143.
Bertschy, 4
control of the Freedom Rides and continued them. There are a few historians who hail
the later success of the Rides as CORE’s achievement without any mention of the
students’ involvement. Historian Leon Friedman barely mentioned the students in his
section on the Freedom Rides in his edited volume about the Civil Rights Movement. In
his book, he includes an excerpt written by Lois Lomax regarding the Freedom Rides
from his book The Negro Revolt. Lomax wrote, “without question, the glory and the
victory of the freedom ride belongs to CORE and to James Farmer.” He acknowledged
that there were other organizations besides CORE, but he does not denote the importance
of the students. Harry S. Ashmore agrees that the students played a role of little
importance to the movement and states only that the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC) “joined” CORE’s Freedom Rides. Others like Inge Powell Bell and
August Meier disregard the role of the students completely; they are not even mentioned
as participants.6
These interpretations of the Freedom Rides are in stark contrast to those portrayed
by the Riders themselves and the most recent historians. The biographies written by the
Riders Stokely Carmichael, John Lewis, Jim Peck, and an interview with James Farmer,
all conclude that the Freedom Rides were successful due to the students’ intervention and
continuation. Raymond Arsenault argues very clearly that while CORE was responsible
for initiating the Freedom Rides, their Ride ended before change had occurred and with
only a “partial success.” He does not deny that the students ended up gaining assistance
from other non-violent Civil Rights organizations when continuing the Rides; however,
6
Inge Bell and Powell Bell, CORE: and the Strategy of Non-Violence, (New York: Random House, 1968);
August Meier “Negro Protest Movements and Organizations,” The Journal of Negro Education, Autumn,
1963; accessed 3 March 2007; available from www.jstor.com.
Bertschy, 5
he mentions that the students were alone in persisting with the Rides.7 Without the
continuation of the Freedom Rides led by the students, the Freedom Rides would not
have had the same impact and ability to demand change from the federal government.
The two opposing portrayals of the students’ involvement support two different
historiographical understandings of the Civil Rights Movement. The disagreement is
regarding how the implementation of change occurred, either from a top down approach
or rather via the hard work of grassroots campaigns. If the students were not integral to
the desegregation of the bus facilities, then change occurred due to a top down approach
with the Supreme Court and the President stepping in. However, if the students were
essential to the Rides, then it would imply that grassroots campaigns played an important
role in spurring change.
The impact that the students had through their participation in the Rides after
CORE abandoned it, shows that they played the pivotal role in the success of the
Freedom Rides of 1961. They students gave America a new example of grassroots
activism, one which was lead and powered by youthful students who were able to
mobilize their own particular talents to the campaign and to motivate change. Their
youthfulness was crucial to the success of the Rides. They brought new ideas,
determination, and used their youthful and innocent appearance in ways which adults
were unable. The students proved that they were integral to the success of the Rides
through their firm belief of the moral urgency in the necessity to continue the rides,
perseverance in the face of opposition, outstanding leadership within their student
movement, youthful determination, use of the media and public response, and
continuation campaign even while incarcerated to force the federal government into
7
Arsenault, 180.
Bertschy, 6
quicker action. With the Freedom Rides, the students proved that they could use their age
to their advantage and were capable of running a movement on their own.
I. Background: The Context and Journey of Reconciliation
The Freedom Rides of 1961 were an important chapter in America’s civil right’s
movement. The idea of the Freedom Ride began in 1946 with the United States’ Supreme
Court decision in Morgan v. Virginia in which the court declared that there was to be no
segregation of interstate passengers.8 A new organization, the Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE), along with the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), determined that it
was necessary to test this decision in the southern states. The following year, 1947, a
biracial group of young men and women traveled on Greyhound and Trailways busses
through the upper Southern states.9 They called it the Journey of Reconciliation and the
riders were to refuse to adhere to segregation laws. Instead, they would insist on
following the ruling of the Supreme Court by not sitting in the assigned seating of blacks
in the back and whites in the front of the bus.
The planning of the Journey had anticipated that their test would be an inspiration
to all Americans and would therefore start an uprising. Instead, locals of both races and
the state police were confused and apprehensive.10 White Southerners were not alone in
8
In the Supreme Court Opinion written by Justice Reed it was determined that because segregation of
interstate passengers was a “statute [that] unlawfully burdens interstate commerce” the Court could not
support the decision of the state of Virginia and found segregation in seating arrangements for the different
races in interstate motor travel to be unconstitutional. Cornell Law School, “Morgan v. Virginia (No.
704),” Supreme Court Collection, (accessed 4 March 2007); available from
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0328_0373_ZS.html.
9
The states they traveled through were Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and
Ohio. Raymond Arsenault, Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2006), 42.
10
Glen Feldman, Before Brown: Civil Rights and White Backlash in the Modern South (Tuscaloosa: The
University of Alabama Press, 2004), 64.
Bertschy, 7
their opposition to the Journey. CORE was not backed by other civil rights organizations
nor were some local African Americans on their side. Thurgood Marshall, the director of
legal defense for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), was quoted in The New York Times in opposition to the test, saying that it was
a “disobedience movement… [which] would result in the wholesale slaughter with no
good achieved.”11 Many local African Americans were hesitant about the ride, even
refusing to stay on the buses the Journey was testing. The riders also received threats
from passengers of both races.12 After the Journey concluded with its test of the upper
Southern states, it appeared that the areas they traveled through were left unchanged.
Those who aided the riders, like Reverend Jones from Chapel Hill, NC, were harassed
and threatened.13 The Journey failed at creating change in the practices and mindset of
the people.
During this test there were only a few arrests and hardly any violence. There
certainly was limited attention by the press and the ride was virtually forgotten soon after
it was completed.14 CORE members stated that it was a success, yet most historians view
it as a “short-run failure.”15 August Meier and Elliott Rudwick argue that the greatest
significance of the Journey of Reconciliation was that it served as the model for the much
more “dramatic and successful” Freedom Ride of 1961.16 James Peck, one of the riders,
observed that it certainly “interested audiences more than anything else.”17 The test did
11
Thurgood Marshal quoted in The New York Times in Feldman, Before Brown: Civil Rights and White
Backlash in the Modern South, 48.
12
Feldman, 54.
13
Feldman, 58.
14
Phil Nobel, Beyond the Burning Bus: The Civil Rights Revolution in a Southern Town (Montgomery:
NewSouth Books, 2003), 115.
15
Feldman, 9.
16
Meier and Rudwick, “The First Freedom Ride,” 222.
17
Meier and Rudwick, 222.
Bertschy, 8
not change the attitudes of the segregationists, but did spark the interest of some activists.
It was a failure, then, because no new social change occurred from it and it certainly did
not assist in speeding up the process of ending segregation.
Following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in 1960, Boynton v.
Virginia,18 in which the court deemed that there should be no segregation of any
interstate passengers in any facilities at bus terminals, CORE was determined to try the
experiment yet again but with a different intention. James Farmer, who was the first
national director of CORE and a Freedom Rider himself, stated that the purpose of the
Freedom Ride was:
to seek enforcement of the anti-segregation laws and ruling of the federal
government and to urge people, negro and white, when they are traveling as
interstate passengers to refuse to submit to local rules of segregation….To
encourage Negroes in the various communities through the South to do that and to
encourage white people in traveling to do that and also to turn the spotlight of
public opinion throughout America on the issue of segregation19
The Southern officials and citizens would claim that the Rides’ purpose was to entice a
violent response.20 Farmer admitted that he had planned on the Southerners to create a
crisis.21 However, the purpose of the Freedom Riders was to get national attention and
force change. The Riders were aimed at mobilization and gaining the necessary press
coverage to entice the nation to join the movement in ending segregation.
The Freedom Rides started from Washington DC on May 4, 1961 with little press
coverage and no violence. The thirteen Riders had been informed of the “great
18
FindLaw, “Boynton v. Virginia,” U.S. Supreme Court, (accessed 4 March 2007); available from
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=364&invol=454.
19
Recording from 1961 interview with James Farmer.
20
Jim Carrier, A Traveler’s Guide to the Civil Rights Movement (Orlando: Harcourt Books, 2004), 52.
21
Farmer quoted in Diane McWhorter, A Dream of Freedom: The Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to
1968 (New York: Scholastic Nonfiction, 2004), 62; Wexler, The Civil Rights Movement: An Eyewitness
History, 119.
Bertschy, 9
possibility if not probability of violence.”22 It was not until they reached Rock Hill and
witnessed the beating of John Lewis that they had their first interaction with a mob. This
incident caused a few more reporters to pay attention to them, but they had still not
gained the attention of most Americans. They had been competing for news coverage
with events such as Alan Shepard becoming the first American to go into space.23
But on Mother’s Day, May 13, 1961, they experienced extreme brutality which
would be extensively covered. Both the Greyhound and Trailways groups were attacked
by the Ku Klux Klan outside of Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama. Alabama Police
Chief Eugene "Bull" Connor conspired with Ku Klux Klan members and allowed them to
firebomb the Greyhound bus near Anniston where the riders were forced to exit and were
then viciously beaten24. The Trailways bus faced a similar fate as the Greyhound bus
outside of Birmingham when they were also attacked, their tires slashed, and their riders
were also beaten25.
The following morning, newspapers across the nation and around the world had
on their front-page the now infamous picture of the smoldering Greyhound bus in
Anniston [Figure 1].26 They had finally received some national attention to their cause,
however, reporters were still not overcrowding the train terminals to cover the story and
the American citizens were not demanding to be kept aware of what the Riders were
doing. After healing a bit, the Riders continued to Montgomery. In Montgomery they
were welcomed by more mob violence and drivers refused to take them further. They
22
Elsa Knight Thompson, The Freedom Ride: Interview with James Farmer (Berkeley: Pacifica Tape
Library, 1960), Videocassette.
23
Arsenault, 116.
24
Ibid, 150
25
Ibid, 143-46; Halberstam, 261-264; Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails, created and produced
by Blackside, Inc and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
26
Lewis with D’Orso, 140.
Bertschy, 10
were forced to travel by airplanes in order to complete their journey to New Orleans
where they had a difficult time leaving the taunting southerners due to bomb threats.
Once the group reached New Orleans, CORE abandoned the idea of the Rides,
hailing it a “partial success.”27 CORE was proud of what they had accomplished but
determined that timing was incorrect and abandoned the Freedom Rides. James Farmer
had first thought about retreating after the Mother’s Day riots; he was glad to see his
riders make it safely to New Orleans and he was not ready to send more into harm’s
way.28 The national media was not as enthusiastic about the Ride as Farmer and stated
that the conclusion of the Ride had been “a triumph of pragmatic realism over misguided
idealism.”29 The Ride ended with America believing that ending segregation was still
just a dream.
But the students, particularly those in Nashville, Tennessee, felt that deserting the
Rides just as they were getting the attention and reaction that they had hoped for was
unacceptable. They felt that it was sending the wrong message to the nation and
especially to their southern opposition. Ending the rides at this first sign of violence sent
the wrong message to the Southerners that the African Americans could be easily beaten
and did not really have the courage to follow through with their intentions. When no one
else would, the students’ stepped in and showed the courage to continue the rides.
The initial Freedom Ride received mixed reactions from the American populace
and the different civil rights organizations. At this point, it was unclear if the Freedom
Rides would make enough of an impact to be successful in achieving the Ride’s goals.
The Nashville Student Movement led by Diane Nash and a member of CORE’s Freedom
27
Arsenault, 178.
Ibid, 165.
29
Ibid, 178.
28
Bertschy, 11
Ride, John Lewis, wanted to take over the rides completely from CORE’s control and
accomplish the original goals.
II. The Students and the Necessity to Continue
The students in Nashville were part of the civil rights group called the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). SNCC had been established with the aid
of Ella Baker and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which was the
organization in which Martin Luther King, Jr. was involved. SNCC was the perfect
organization to frontline the Freedom Rides because of its diverse membership. The
Nashville students were enrolled at colleges and Universities such as Fisk, American
Baptist College, Tennessee State University, George Peabody College, and many others.
The members included well-educated members of middle-class families, and even a
Homecoming queen-- Diane Nash. But there were also some shy members from the rural
south who grew up on farms and were poorly educated, such as John Lewis. SNCC
would accept anyone regardless of their race or religion or class. The students’
movement was unlike the other civil rights groups at this time in that they were very
inclusive. SNCC had members from the wealthy to the poor as well as medical students
and even seminary students. Their membership even included men like Jim Davis of
Claflin College in South Carolina who had been an all-conference football star. Even
though they could be seen as dramatically different, they all had the same hardened
commitment to the cause.
Although the students understood the certain harsh outcomes that they would face
by continuing the rides including possibly death, they felt that the end result of the
Bertschy, 12
Freedom Rides would substantially overcome all the negative consequences. While the
adults were focusing on the glass is half empty aspects of the violence, the students were
focusing on the glass is half full view that they had made huge strides in drawing
attention to the issue of equality and would not stop now.
The debate over continuing the Freedom Rides brought out a generational gap.
The journalist David Halberstam, who had been a reporter during the Ride, stated that the
generational line was being crossed and the students had “quietly and resolutely moved
ahead of their parents.”30 The students wanted change now, while the older generations
were willing to wait. One of the student Riders, John Lewis, noticed that even within the
movement itself there was a split that appeared to be widening between the generations in
their attitudes.31 The adults were willing to wait and try at a later time while the students
wanted action and immediate results.
The students were labeled by activists as “New Negro” due to their novel view on
obtaining civil rights. Farmer’s wife defines this new generation:
the New Negro, they are the young people who have decided they cannot accept
the kind of humiliation forced on their families for generations. They are
intelligent and they have dignity. The cause for which they are working is
precious to them because it is an acutely personal one. How can there be a
cooling off period for them?32
This generation had been waiting long enough. They had finally found in the Freedom
Rides what they had been waiting for and would not hold off and allow segregation to
last for another minute. They understood that if they waited, they might not see
30
Halberstam, 164.
Lewis with D’Orso, 164.
32
After the Mother’s Day riots, President Kennedy called for a “cooling off-period” in which no Freedom
Riders would test the bus systems in the South. The students did not think this was appropriate and
disregarded this request and kept riding. James Peck, Freedom Ride (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1962), 158.
31
Bertschy, 13
desegregation ever, so they deemed it necessary to continue and force the government to
take a stance that would completely end segregation.
It is this generation that had lived through the Brown v. Board of Education
decision. Although this ruling officially ended the doctrine of “separate but equal” in
educational facilities, it did not set a date by which schools were expected to be
completely integrated but by their interpretation of “all deliberate speed.” Many states
took their time implementing the ruling. The students of the Freedom Rides had been
teenagers during the Brown decision and saw just how slowly the southern states were
willing to move towards integration.33 This was a court decision that everyone was
expected to obey, and yet they were not doing so and the law was not being enforced.
These students were frustrated; it had been almost six years since the Brown decision and
yet David Halberstam suggested that they felt that “nothing had happened in any of their
lives. Nothing.”34 They had already lived through one decision that was supposed to
enable more civil rights that had turned out to be more of a mythical idea than reality and
they were just unwilling to allow that to happen again with the Boynton decision. They
had waited long enough for change.
The older generation was fully aware of the attitudes of this generation and of
their determination. In President Kennedy’s inaugural address in January 1961, he even
mentioned that these activists were a new force to be reckoned with and that “the torch
has been passed to a new generation of Americans.”35 Historian Stanford Wexler
claimed that Kennedy was referring to the students as being this new generation of
33
Halberstam, 69.
Ibid, 76.
35
Wexler, 114; Charles Patterson, The Civil Rights Movement (New York: Facts On File, 1995), 39.
34
Bertschy, 14
Americans and Charles Patterson agreed that the students felt the President was referring
to them.36 Not only were the students determined for change to happen quickly, but the
older generation even recognized that they had the necessary tools to make it happen.
The intent of the Freedom Rides was fairly straight forward. The CORE Freedom
Ride aim, according to its creator James Farmer, “was to provoke the southern authorities
into arresting us and thereby prod the Justice Department into enforcing the law of the
land.”37 How they aimed at doing this was extremely simple: “we [Freedom Riders] put
on pressure and create a crisis then they react. I am absolutely convinced that the ICC
order wouldn’t have been issued if not for the Freedom Riders.” 38 In order to create
change, they wanted to get national attention to expose the violent segregationist south.
Ending the rides at this first sign of violence sent the wrong message to the
southerners that the African Americans could be easily beaten and did not really have the
courage to follow through with their intentions. However, the students possessed
undaunted courage. Diane Nash, a Nashville student movement leader, said that her
organization determined to continue the fight because “The impression would have been
that whenever a movement starts, all [the white Southerners would have to do] is attack it
with massive violence and the blacks [will] stop.”39 The students were well aware of
what they were getting themselves into considering they had friends participating in the
original ride who had been seriously injured. William Barbee, a classmate of John
Lewis, had been paralyzed due to the beating he received in Alabama.40 However, this
did not keep Lewis from supporting the Rides and he felt that “our purpose was to arouse
36
Wexler, 114; Patterson, 39.
James Farmer quoted in Wexler, 114-115.
38
James Farmer quoted in Ibid, 119.
39
Ibid, 117.
40
Boyd, We Shall Overcome, 95.
37
Bertschy, 15
black people all over the South that segregation was not over” and he would not finish
until this had occurred.41
The students were convinced that this was the moment to push for change from
the government. Although the students themselves were very dedicated to this movement
and were integral to its success, there were outside forces that also helped to force the
government into action. Another key reason that the students felt the need to continue the
Rides was its timing in relation to Kennedy’s foreign affairs. The Freedom Rides could
not have come at a worse time for President Kennedy. He could not afford the negative
press that was being circulated around the world at the expense of the United States due
to the efforts of the Freedom Rides. During the time of the Freedom Rides, and
especially the ones run by the students, President Kennedy was working relentlessly on
foreign affairs. Kennedy needed a quick resolution to the Rides because they hurt the
appearance of the United States on a global level.
President Kennedy was especially concerned with the students’ Freedom Rides
because they coincided with an important foreign policy conference. The student’s wave
of the Freedom Rides occurred while President Kennedy was attending the Vienna
conference in an attempt to gain support from other nations. America was facing the
Cold War and needed allies. The United States was trying to prove its superiority over
the Soviet Union and authority as a democratic leader for freedom. A race war within its
own nation was certainly not helping to prove anything.42 President Kennedy was
especially trying to elicit the support of Third World countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin
America to join America’s side and not the Soviet Union and the violence was making a
41
42
John Lewis quoted in Boyd, 96.
McWhorter, 65
Bertschy, 16
bad impression.43 It diminished their “moral authority.”44 The Kennedys were irritated
with the protests since they were drawing attention to the racial problems. For example,
the violence faced by the first Freedom Riders in 1961 was all over the front pages not
only nationally, but globally as well. The pictures turned out to be a southern and
national embarrassment.45
Newspapers around the globe contained unfavorable reports of the Anniston
incident with pictures of the charred bus outside Anniston [see Figure 1] and of the brutal
thugs inside the Birmingham bus station.46 The city of Anniston itself was very
concerned with those images of their citizens being plastered around the globe. They
were afraid that those images would negatively affect future businesses and industries for
Anniston.47 Anniston was not alone in feeling the pressure of the harm those images
could create for the economy. The ripple effect would impact the United States and even
the President had a vested interest in the Freedom Rides to protect his domestic affairs
and foreign policy.
Also, the fact that it was a race-related issue did not sit well with the international
community. News from South Africa and the anti-Apartheid campaign make it clear how
explosive of an issue a racial crisis was. The last thing the United States, and especially
the Southern states, wanted was “to see paralleled headlines linking Johannesburg and
Birmingham.”48 President Kennedy was trying to win over the nations of Africa, Asia,
and Latin America that were extremely sensitive to race issues.49 He could not afford to
43
Patterson, 41-42.
McWhorter, 65.
45
Ibid, 64.
46
Ibid, 64.
47
Nobel, Beyond the Burning Bus, 36.
48
Arsenault, 201.
49
Ibid, 94.
44
Bertschy, 17
let any violence interfere with his foreign policy and thus tried to work extra hard with
the students to ensure their safety. The students were able to use the advantages of the
geopolitical situation to force Kennedy into action. Embarrassment due to the unruly
South was just not an option for him.
III. Opposition
In order for the students to become active agents in the Rides, they had to
overcome difficult opposition. There were many forces allied against their involvement
in the rides and specifically their continuing the rides. Many adults during this time
including activists and the parents of the students were adamant about trying to keep the
students from continuing the rides.
Only a few of the parents of the riders showed their support and admiration for
what the students were doing while most of the parents were horrified. They were
generally “shocked and ashamed”50 that their children were part of the movement. If the
students were under the age of twenty-one, it was required that their parents grant them
permission. Bernard Lafayette’s father’s reaction epitomizes what most parents felt with
his response of “Boy, you’re asking me to sign your death warrant.”51 They had sent
their children to the Nashville schools expecting them to gain an education and better
their lives that way, not by becoming involved in the civil rights movement.
The federal government was also not planning on siding with the students and
backing up their commitment to the Freedom Rides. In fact, it did quite the opposite.
When it was just a rumor that the Nashville Student Movement was debating whether to
50
51
Lewis with D’Orso, 116.
Bernard Lafayette’s father quoted in Arsenault, 106.
Bertschy, 18
continue the Rides, the federal government tried to convince their leaders to desist and
turn to other tactics instead. Government officials including John Seigenthaler, who was
the Personal Assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, personally made phone calls
to try to dissuade the students from continuing. The Kennedy administration was positive
that the students were going to get hurt unnecessarily by the southern opposition.52
The white southerners were not keen on the idea of the Freedom Rides being
continued either. The police had offered the first group no protection and would continue
to offer no assistance. In fact, some of the police officers even egged on the violence of
the Ku Klux Klan and other segregationists by praising their brutality towards the Riders.
A police detective told his Klan contact that “I don’t give a damn if you beat them, bomb
them, murder them or kill them. We don’t ever want to see another nigger ride on the bus
into Birmingham again.”53 They wanted to show the Riders and the northerners that they
would continue the laws of their land regardless of what the court said.
The students could also certainly not expect any assistance from the southern state
officials. Segregation was a policy that most of the elected officials used as their
platform. Alabama Governor George C. Wallace stated in his inaugural address in 1963,
“segregation now… segregation tomorrow… segregation forever.”54 Segregation was the
way of life in the South and the students anticipated that the white southerners would
fight by any means necessary to preserve their way of life.
Even other civil rights activists were apprehensive towards the students. Those
who had witnessed the effects of the violence only felt it would get worse. Fred
Shuttlesworth, an African American minister in Alabama and civil rights activist who had
52
Lewis with D’Orso, 145.
McWhorter, 63.
54
Nobel, 26.
53
Bertschy, 19
assisted CORE with the Freedom Ride, begrudgingly agreed to help out the students but
warned them that “you’ll get killed.”55 Others, including Farmer of CORE who had been
on the first ride in 1961, told them, “you realize it might be suicide.”56 The adults were
worried that the students headed to Birmingham were going to meet death.
Even their supporters put up obstacles. The students relied on funding from the
SCLC in order to finance the Rides. Even when they were finally able to convince the
organization that it was a good idea, they were met with barricades. The SCLC wrote
them a check, but only got one signature instead of the necessary two to cash it. The
students felt that the SCLC was using this as a stalling tactic. Bernard Lafayette, one of
the Nashville students, believed that the organization knew that the students lacked
sufficient monetary support and believed that granting them money but not paying it at
the same time would be a way to appease them until they were able to talk the students
out of going on their dangerous mission. 57
It was difficult for the students to find support for their continuation. CORE had
been the original group to take on the original ride in 1947. They had terminated that ride
and then the Freedom Ride in 1961 as well. If an experienced and nationally recognized
civil rights group with hardened activists had deemed this test too difficult, what chance
did these students have? As we have seen, the NAACP, too, had been voiced their
warning as to the hazards of this “disobedience movement…. [which] would result in
wholesale slaughter with no good achieved”58 in efforts to dissuade participants back in
55
McWhorter, 64.
Arsenault, 181.
57
Halberstam, 277-278.
58
Thurgood Marshal quoted in New York Times article in Feldman, 48.
56
Bertschy, 20
1947 and had not changed their mind regarding the ride by 1961. SNCC was still in its
infancy and most Americans had never heard of them.59
After the students did continue the Rides, they faced another form of opposition
when CORE and other civil rights activists like Martin Luther King, Jr. from trying to
take the Rides out of their control and reap the benefits from their hard work. While this
was deliberate with CORE, it was inadvertent with Martin Luther King, Jr. CORE
allowed the students to continue the Ride, yet when they steadily gained more national
attention CORE tried to take it back over. Farmer later stated that “although [he]
welcomed the intervention of SNCC, a concern burned within [him]. [He] could not let
CORE’s new program slip from its grasp and be taken over by others.”60 To Farmer, it
was CORE’s program and he wanted to make sure the nation would always remember
that, even though he had abandoned it.
Although the students wanted the assistance of Martin Luther King, Jr., his help
came with still more barriers to overcome. At almost every step during this non-violent
protest, the students tried to convince Martin Luther King, Jr. to join the Rides. They felt
that his presence would help them get more support from community members and more
media attention. However, when King was involved in anything, he tended to completely
steal the spotlight. King did interrupt his speaking tour in Chicago to attend a rally for
the Freedom Rides at Ralph Abernathy’s First Baptist Church in Montgomery.61 The
local Klansmen barricaded them in the church and after the event they were all luckily
59
SNCC was very new and many had not heard of the organization. They were unable to get a bus driver
to take them from Montgomery to Jackson and one driver even stated, “I have one life to give… and I’m
not giving it to CORE or NAACP.” He had not even heard of SNCC and just assumed they were part of
the other civil rights organizations. Lewis with D’Orso,153.
60
Arsenault, 225.
61
Wexler, 119.
Bertschy, 21
able to escape unharmed due to the President’s intervention. Even after this scene, King
still would not commit to the Rides. After this refusal, the students lost a lot of respect
for King.62 The students did not get the support from King and during the imprisonment
in the church King had gotten the attention from the media. When King decided against
participating, he left with a lot of the momentum the movement had just gained.
IV. Leadership from Within
The students were able to succeed even without the leadership from outside
organizations. Within the student movement itself, a few very capable leaders had
emerged. SNCC was able to successfully implement their Rides due to leadership from
within their organization. Although they were students, there were leaders among them
who were wise beyond their years. In 1960, Diane Nash had been elected to take charge
of the direct action projects for SNCC.63 Diane Nash proved to be an integral figure that
helped the students’ Freedom Rides succeed.
Diane Nash had already proved to be useful to the civil rights movement. Jim
Lawson, a member of SCLC, set up non-violent workshops aimed at teaching students
non-violent tactics to use to fight for civil rights. He claimed that Diane Nash was his
first recruit for his workshops on non-violence.64 Nash came across as very intelligent.
She was well respected by her peers and was considered the “most sophisticated of the
62
It is said that he compared himself with Jesus stating that he would not assist because he wanted to
“choose the time and place of my Goltha.” After this, many of the students nicknamed him “Da Lawd.”
The adults were not measuring up to the students’ expectations and this tension between groups exemplifies
the problems with generation gap that had been created. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the students quoted
in McWhorter, 65.
63
Howard Zinn, SNCC: The New Abolitionist (Boston: South End Press, 1964), 59.
64
Halberstam, 62.
Bertschy, 22
early group.”65 Her peers found her to be “fearless and selfless.”66 She was the natural
leader for their group.
Stokely Carmichael described Nash as “always a clear, militant, uncompromising
sister. Committed to the philosophy of nonviolence. One of the most admired people in
SNCC. And real, real pretty too.”67 Carmichael was not the only one to consider her
beautiful. Nash had very light skin and during that time light skin on an African
American was considered by many to be the marking of beauty and sophistication.68
Nash’s beauty also helped gain recruits for Lawson’s workshops. Many potential male
activists returned to the workshops “because it was a chance to be near Diane Nash.”69
There were many members of the workshops who became heavily involved in the
civil rights campaign. The Nashville Student Movement had an imbedded interest in the
Freedom Rides before they took control of them from CORE.
They had a comrade and
close friend, John Lewis, accepted into the Freedom Rides and so kept a close watch on
the initial CORE Freedom Ride. Nash had been in contact with Lewis throughout the
duration of his involvement with the ride. The Freedom Ride that CORE proposed was
similar to what the Lewis and the other students in the Nashville Student Movement had
proposed to Shuttlesworth and were watching anxiously to see their idea in action.70
Upon hearing of the bus burning in Anniston, Nash was immediately prepared to
gather reinforcements for the hurt riders rather than focusing on the tragedy that it
65
Ibid, 59.
Ibid, 143.
67
Stokely Carmichael with Ekwueme Michael Thelwell. Ready for Revolution, (New York
Schribner,2003), 186.
68
Halberstam, 59.
69
Ibid, 59.
70
Lewis with D’Orso, 128.
66
Bertschy, 23
presented since their comrades and a close friend were severely injured, possibly dead.71
Nash understood how important the Rides were and would do everything in her power to
prevent the white southern opposition to force them to quit. She later said “I strongly felt
that the future of the movement was going to be cut short. The impression would have
been that whenever a movement starts, all [you have to do] is attack it with massive
violence and the blacks [will] stop.”72 Nash would not accept that as an outcome.
Diane Nash contacted James Farmer the day he declared CORE’s abandonment of
the Rides to inform him that SNCC would continue them. The federal government was
well aware that Nash meant business and contacted her that day to try to stop them. John
Seigenthaler himself, the assistant to the Attorney General Robert Kennedy, tried to
contact Nash. Seigenthaler was from Nashville and well aware of what Nash and her
organization were capable. When CORE tried to initiate the Freedom Rides, they had
written to President Kennedy, the Attorney General, the FBI, the ICC, and the Greyhound
and Trailways bus companies with no response.73 This time, the federal government was
so impressed with what Nash had done with the sit-ins that it felt it must respond
immediately. Seigenthaler stated that “All hell [was] going to break loose. She [Diane]
is going to get those people killed.”74 Newspapers like The New York Times also credit
her with keeping the protest movement going.75 From this moment it was no longer
CORE’s ride, it was Nash’s ride.
71
Halberstam, 266.
Wexler, 117.
73
Lewis with D’Orso, 134.
74
Seigenthaler quoted in Ibid, 145.
75
David Halberstam, “Negro Girl a Force in Campaign; Encouraged Bus to Keep Rolling,” The New York
Times, 23 May, 1961, 26, Proquest.
72
Bertschy, 24
Diane Nash took her role as a leader very seriously. She even had to overcome
many additional obstacles in order to continue her own participation with the Freedom
Rides. She determined that this organization and the task at hand was so important that
she was willing to risk her future on it. After the first group of Freedom Riders was
arrested, Fisk University was not happy with Nash’s role with the Rides and the
administration scolded her regarding her involvement in the Rides and her popularity in
the black newspapers and magazines.76 She determined that if Fisk could not understand
the importance of the Rides then Fisk was not worth her time. She dropped out of college
and devoted herself completely to SNCC and SCLC.77
Nash was also able to use her appearance to her advantage in assisting the Riders.
During the Freedom Rides, her light skin proved useful for the protection of the other
Riders. Nash’s coloring was so light that she could pass as white. On May 24, 1961
when her group of Riders attempted to reach Jacksonville, Mississippi, she used her color
to gain information without being arrested herself. She was able to pass as white and
gain information from the police in the white waiting room.78
Nash was able to make quick and tough decisions in high pressure situation. She
had requested to participate in the Rides, yet her fellow students wound not allow this
because they realized they needed her to help coordinate the Rides. At one point, Bull
Connor stranded her Riders in the middle of nowhere. Nash was able to use her
networking skills to track down some assistance to locate the Riders and bring them back
76
Halberstam, 268- 269.
Ibid, 269.
78
Ibid, 340.
77
Bertschy, 25
to Montgomery. Although internally she was shaken up, she never let any wavering
show.79
While her fellow students in the Nashville Student Movement were in the
trenches of the South, she was continuously picketing to gain support from organizations.
Although her organization was strong, she was well aware that they needed help that the
older and more experienced organizations could provide. It was Nash who was able to
convince SCLC, Martin Luther King Jr, and members of CORE to travel to Montgomery
where they were forced directly into the movement when an angry Southern mob trapped
them in a church.80
By the time the Freedom Riders were waiting in Parchman prison, Nash had
become such a powerful influence in the rides that Attorney General Robert Kennedy met
with her in person by June.81 This was at a point when the organizations such as CORE,
NAACP, and SCLC had become with the Rides due to Nash’s determination. But
Kennedy chose to meet with Nash and not the older leaders. This is a stark contrast to
what had occurred a few weeks prior. When the Freedom Riders had been trapped in the
church in Montgomery with Martin Luther King Jr., it was King with whom Kennedy
had spoken. The students had made their presence clear and they needed to be spoken to
directly now.
Nash was able to establish herself as the center of the student organization
without having it revolve around her like King did with SCLC. She “captured the
imagination of those who admired the student part of the Movement, including the
students themselves. But she had always tried to limit any attempt to create a cult of
79
Halberstam, 134.
Arsenault, 225.
81
Lewis with D’Orso, 178.
80
Bertschy, 26
personality around herself.”82 For Nash, it was not important that she be the leader
dictating when and how civil rights should be granted, but rather the work of the people
themselves. She was an important part, but just one part, of the movement. SNCC was
able to accomplish much in such a short amount of time due in part to the leadership of
Diane Nash.
Diane Nash was more of a grassroots leader than a top down leader. She brought
a new style to the campaign, one that was more open to alliances than any previous civil
rights organization. SNCC was able to keep its independence and unique strength intact,
uncompromised, and drew out the strengths of those involved.
V. What the Students Brought to the Rides
Diane Nash proved that the students group had the leadership qualities to lead a
movement. Nash also needed dedicated followers in order to create a successful activist
group. The students themselves became a huge asset to the Freedom Rides. Their
youthful determination proved to be one of the important factors that they brought to the
Rides that no one else could. Unlike their elders, the students had not been struggling for
change for the past few decades only to be met with more opposition. Previous to the
Freedom Rides, the adult organizations like CORE, NAACP, and SCLC had been
engaged in numerous other tactics aimed at ending segregation. They had been living
with Jim Crow laws for decades and the older generation of Americans believed that
there was some interaction between the two races but they were basically living in two
82
Halberstam, 218.
Bertschy, 27
different worlds. The adults of the 1960s had grown up hearing government officials
promoting segregation as a way of life that must be preserved.83
The student activists were blessed with a different opinion. They were youthful
enough that they were still shocked by their treatment due to the color of their skin and
had not yet been beaten into submission over segregation. Instead, they were ready to
join the fight, bringing to the cause for civil rights a whole new generation of fresh
recruits and new and innovative ideas.
The youthfulness of the activists did not mean that they were inexperienced in the
fight for racial equality. These students had another advantage since they had already
been successful at implementing change. The previous year, in 1960, students had
banded together and created the sit-in-movement which had succeeded in desegregating
the lunch counters. The movement started in February 1960 with four freshmen from
North Carolina Agricultural and Technological College who just wanted to eat at
Woolworth’s lunch counter after already having purchased items from the store, “sittingin” at the counters and refusing to move unless they were served.84 In less than two
weeks that act inspired sit-ins all over Virginia and South Carolina in which white and
black students peacefully sat at the counters demanding to be served. In two months, the
movement had increased to include 54 cities in nine different states.85 At some
restaurants, they were met with hostility. But they had been coached by Jim Lawson in
the techniques of non-violence and did not strike back. Police officers arrested several
students, but instead of this act deterring students from their movement it rather
83
Nobel, 26.
Wexler, 109.
85
Wexler, 109.
84
Bertschy, 28
strengthened their resolve for the civil rights movement.86 The students continued
pushing the authorities until they were finally successful in forcing integration at the
lunch counters within that year.
After the sit-in movement, the students realized that they had the power to force
change to occur. Martin Luther King, Jr. found the sit-in movement to be a “revolt
against the apathy and complacency of adults in the Negro community.”87 King was not
the only outsider to recognize the power of the sit-ins for the students. Others felt the sitins signaled a shift away from the older civil rights groups to the students. Journalist
Louis Lomax believed the success symbolized that the NAACP was no longer in charge
of the social protest, while the NAACP pursued court cases the new generation of
activists were engaging in a more effective form of change.88
The sit-in movement showed the students that they had the power to create
change since they had resources that the other civil rights organization did not—the new
activist of the youthful student. The movement showed the students at different colleges
that they were able to network together and create a movement of their own. There were
student civil rights organizations at schools throughout the North and South that shared
the same goals for equality and were able to communicate and work with each other.
When SNCC was first formed, it started out as a national group with chapters all over the
United States. SNCC was created from a conference where SCLC had brought together
the student organizations that they had helped to create across the country. This allowed
it to have a strong presence across the country while other organizations like CORE or
the NAACP did not have as many chapters nationally because they started as local groups
86
Zinn, SNCC: The New Abolitionist, 40-41.
Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted in Wexler, 112.
88
Louis Lomax quoted in Patterson, 37.
87
Bertschy, 29
that then had to branch out. Thus, even though SNCC was new, it had a substantial
empire.
The students also had plenty of recruits ready to provide aid along the way. Due
to their extensive network system, they were able to find numerous people willing to give
them aid when necessary. Halberstam claims that “the most dangerous words in
Alabama at that moment were Freedom Rider.”89 The locals, including the local African
Americans, were hesitant with aiding the Freedom Riders. Even so, it was due to their
youthful appearance they were able to find aid from outsiders.90 In great times of need,
the students were able to rely on other students or adults sympathizing with their
determination.
There were also countless students willing to take up the cause of the Rides. In
fact, if the students had had more money, the South would have been flooded with
student Riders. There were more volunteer participants than the movement could handle.
Whenever a group of Riders was sent to jail, SNCC was able to send more as
replacements.91 America’s youth felt that the Freedom Riders were “genuine heroes”92
and were more than willing to join in with the movement.
Again, it did not matter what school the students attended. The students came
from numerous colleges and universities across the nation and there were even students
from Ivy-league schools who were willing to help. Students pledged their support and
were willing to commit to the Rides but also found other ways to show their support as
well. Students from Cornell promised that they would reinforce the students, Harvard
89
Halberstam, 297.
Ibid, 296.
91
Arsenault, 200.
92
Halberstam, 391.
90
Bertschy, 30
raised funds for them, and students at Yale signed a petition with signatures from
students, faculty, and administrators that they sent to the White House pledging their
support for the Freedom Riders.93
The student’s movement was also very easy to join. All the students needed were
the same goal of racial equality through non-violence. None of the other civil rights
organizations at that time were as universal. SNCC would accept anyone willing to help.
The students not only changed the ways in which they were demonstrating but they also
reshaped the idea of who could be an activist.
Also, unlike other civil rights groups, the students worked in collaboration with
other organizations in order to meet their needs. They were working for the common
goal of ending segregation and did not care whom they had to be involved with to obtain
their desired outcome. They had the humility to work with other organizations and
realized their own limitations. There was a lot of tension between the other groups like
CORE, NAACP, and SCLC in which they would not allow assistance from the other
groups in fear that other organizations would steal the glory of their campaign. The
students did not care about who received the attention and recognition but rather that
change occur. Due to this fact, more people were invested in their welfare when they
started up and were more willing to join in their demand for federal attention and
protection because they were so inclusive.
These were young students in their early twenties and some even as young as
eighteen. Those riders who were under the age of twenty-one had to have signed parental
permission to participate in the Rides. By doing this, the parents were even more
accountable for allowing their children to continue. Even those who did not have
93
Arsenault, 298.
Bertschy, 31
parental permission still had parents who were extremely interested in their welfare and
cared about their safety. Their parents and even the schools the students attended also
were under scrutiny from the public eye because the students were proceeding with the
Rides.94
The students also forced organizations to have a monetary interest in their attempt
at the Freedom Ride. The students did not have the funding to continue the Rides and
were forced to beg for money from the SCLC.95 Even though that was difficult, by doing
this, SCLC was now also personally responsible for what happened to the students on the
rides since they had financially enabled them to continue. When needed, the students
first went to the SCLC for assistance.
SCLC also felt morally responsible for the students since SNCC had branched out
from their organization with their guidance. The students were fully aware of this and
certainly used it to their advantage. The Nashville ministers had become such an
important part to the Nashville Student Movement through the sit-in movement that they
were “proxy parents of the students.”96 John Lewis said that a member of the Nashville
Christian Leadership Conference (a branch of SCLC), Kelly Miller Smith, “thinks of us
as his own children… and he cannot bear to send his children to their deaths.”97 The
students were very successful at creating a large audience intent on protecting their
personal welfare throughout their journey.
94
Halberstam, 271.
Ibid, 277-278.
96
Ibid, 275.
97
Halberstam, 275.
95
Bertschy, 32
VI. Media and Public Response
The students were also able to cater to that large audience who were already
invested in their wellbeing as well as expand on by their use of the media. James Farmer
had already attempted in manipulating the media to portray the Rides in a favorable light.
When James Farmer envisioned CORE’s Freedom Ride, he wanted it to “focus
nationwide attention on the reality of segregation.”98 The Freedom Rides attempted to
spotlight the racial issues of the South and put them onto the national stage. It was only
reasonable to anticipate that the demonstrators themselves would be scrutinized by the
media as well. It was not a coincidence that the majority of CORE’s Freedom Riders
were students. Farmer’s application for volunteers for the Ride was catered at finding
individuals who could withstand the attention and look good for the program.
In his quest for volunteers, Farmer sought student applicants. Farmer promoted
the rides mostly via word of mouth but also put advertisements in student’s magazines.
He wrote an ad for the Student Voice which was the newspaper put out by SNCC and
whose readers consisted of almost entirely of students. Farmer also encouraged student
participation by requiring parental permission from the applicants under twenty-one,
rather than instituting an age limit. This allowed activists of all ages access to this
program. Even though permission was required, CORE did not double check an
applicant’s actual age. One of the accepted volunteers, Hank Thomas, was actually only
nineteen and lied on the application so that he did not have to get parental permission.99
98
David Niven, The Politics of Injustice: The Kennedys, The Freedom Rides, and the Electoral
Consequences of Moral Compromise (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2003), xv.
99
Halberstam, 248-249.
Bertschy, 33
One of the reasons that Farmer found it easier to use students was because of their
youth. He wanted his riders to have “spotless” police records.100 The students were less
likely to have faced any criminal charges. With the students that were picked, if they had
any record it was only for their involvement with the sit in movement the previous
year,101 which helped to prove their determination for the cause of civil rights. Since they
had little or no police record, the students appeared more innocent and could be more
easily viewed as model citizens. This technique of purposefully picking activists was
used previously throughout the movement in determining which case to bring to court,
for instance, with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It was extremely
important that riders had a clean background so that in case the media were to search the
backgrounds of the riders they would be unable to locate any incriminating past that
would damage the image of the Freedom Ride itself.
Image was significant to the Riders. Since the Riders hoped to have their
encounters with the opposition photographed and circulated throughout the nation, the
appearance of the Riders. The Riders used the same requirements of the sit-in movement
to dictate their attire. They wore conservative clothing and were well dressed.
Publications like handouts that were distributed to the participants instructed that “the
neat attire of sit-inners has drawn favorable comment all over the nation. Don’t let the
public confuse you with the hoodlums who may attack you.”102 During this part of the
civil rights movement, the leaders were very focused on receiving a positive press image
and did not want clothing to play as a negative factor.
100
Niven, 41.
Halberstam, 248.
102
“A Journal on Sitting-In” (Congress of Racial Equality), page 2, consulting editors August Meier and
Elliott Rudwick, in Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Papers, (Frederick, MD: University Publications
of America, 1983), microfiche, reel 3.
101
Bertschy, 34
In the photographs [see Figure 2], it appears like the Riders are wearing their
Sunday’s best which provides a stark contrast to that of their southern opposition. The
normal attire in this period was much more conservative than today’s fashion, and yet it
is still noticeable that the Riders made a conscious effort with what they wore. In an
article in The New York Times, the author comments on the attire of the members of the
continued Ride describing them as “young Negroes in sport shirts, Ivy League suits and
print dresses.”103 The attire of the students apparently made an impression on the author.
Another writer for The New York Times described the student activists as “college-bred,
Ivy League clad, youthful, articulate and resolute.”104 The students were successful in
obtaining a favorable portrayal for themselves. In all photographs it appears that the
students are poised and well mannered. This shows that they are model citizens who are
simply trying to use the transportation system without trouble.
This description contrasts sharply with descriptions of the opposition. After the
students continued the Freedom Ride, there was some press that printed unfavorable
depictions of the southern mob. For example, The Washington Post published a political
cartoon [see Figure 3] that criticized the mob that attacked the students in
Montgomery.105 The image that Herblock, the artist, created was not very sympathetic to
the mob. The depiction shows them as no good low class thugs who were just looking
for some trouble.
The Southerners could not be seen with a very sympathetic view when the
pictures of them attacking the Riders were printed. In the pictures, [see Figure 4] there
103
Claude Sitton, “Group Maps Plan on Freedom Ride: Students Play Major Role in New Coordinating
Unit, The New York Times, 1 June, 1961, 25, Proquest.
104
The New York Times quoted in Arsenault, 431.
105
Herblock, “Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons By Herblock,” The Library of Congress, (accessed 10
March 2007); available from http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/herblock-exhibition.html.
Bertschy, 35
are hordes of armed men attacking one unarmed individual. The faces of the Southerners
are contorted and filled with hate. They appeared to be capable of killing the Riders.
The physical damage and the images of the beaten young men and women cause a
more compassionate reaction from the viewers as well. It is difficult to look at the
pictures of the injured riders and not feel some sympathy towards them. These are young
students just trying to exercise their constitutional right. For example, after being beaten
at the Montgomery bus station on March 20, 1961, the twenty-one year old Jim Zwerg
appears to be near death with blood spattered all over himself. He is unable to hold
himself up due to his injuries [see Figure 5-7]. Yet, in an interview while in the hospital
bed after the beating, he stated to reporters:
No matter what happens, we’re dedicated to this. We’ll take hittings, we’ll take
beatings, we’re willing to accept death. But we’re gunna keep coming until we
can ride from anywhere in the South to anyplace else in the South without
anybody making any comments- just as American citizens.106
One can only admire their perseverance and commitment to the cause that the students
had. This shows readers that Riders were willing to fight for their rights to the death.
Seeing the images of injured fellow students helped to recruit more youth to the
nonviolent campaign. Hank Thomas traveled on CORE’s ride and then determined to
ride again because he felt “obligated” to ride.107 The Nashville Student Movement had
been his family and its members were in need. After arriving to the scene after the
Birmingham riot, Bob Zellner was greatly affected by what he saw because the injured
were his colleagues, “’cause I knew it was students my age.”108 Student groups from
106
Jim Zwerg quoted in Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails, created and produced by Blackside,
Inc and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
107
Halberstam, 333.
108
Bob Zellner quoted in Carmichael with Thelwell, Ready for Revolution, 192.
Bertschy, 36
across the country banded together to create their own legs of the Freedom Rides. Diane
Nash stated in an interview that the beatings have “given us more strength.”109 Many
wrote into CORE and SNCC wanting to join the rides even mentioning in their request
they were willing to spend time in jail.110 Rides sprung up from Nashville, Mississippi,
Connecticut, Missouri, New Jersey, Albany, and Los Angeles, for instance.111
Newspapers like the Los Angeles Times followed the ride and arrests of the Riders from
their area.112 Citizens from all over the country for the first time in late May of 1961 had
a real connection to the Rides and suddenly had a stake in what was occurring in the
South.
VII. Within the Jails
Just as violence had been anticipated, the students had also anticipated arrests.
The students had a plan that extended the Freedom Rides past defying segregation on the
busses and at bus terminals. The students were prepared for the police to arrest them and
had decided that they would submit fully to their arrests. If arrested they were to enact a
“jail-no-bail” strategy.
One of the main purposes behind the jail-no-bail tactic is that the jails would be
filled to capacity and then the state officials would have nowhere else to put the
offenders. The leaders felt that if the police had no more capacity to arrest Freedom
Riders, then they would be forced to concede to the demands of the Riders.113 The
109
Nash, quoted in Halberstam, “Negro Girl a Force in Campaign; Encouraged Bus to Keep Rolling”, 26.
Congress of Racial Equality, in The Papers of the Congress of Racial Equality, 1941-1967, (Stanford,
NC: Microfilming Corp. of America, 1980), microfiche, reel 44.
111
Arsenault, 319.
112
“’Freedom Riders’ From California Arrested,” Los Angeles Times, 26 June, 1961, 2, Proquest.
113
Eyes on the Prize: No Easy Walk, created and Produced by Blackside, Inc and the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
110
Bertschy, 37
students, and others, felt that they might actually be able to accomplish this. There were
more than enough students willing to donate their bodies to the cause. Members of the
Nashville Student Movement were convinced that they had ample students in the wings
ready to continue the Rides throughout the summer.114 This jail-no-bail tactic is not one
that the students invented. Mahatma Gandhi was the inspiration and many of the civil
rights leaders supported this tactic including Martin Luther King, Jr. The original
Freedom Riders had also been prepared to attempt a jail-no-bail policy since CORE
advocated this tactic.115 Gandhi used the jail-no-bail tactic during his struggle in India
successfully and the civil rights leaders adamantly believed that it could be applied to
their fight in the United States. At one point, Farmer stated “Our intention, was to
provoke the southern authorities into arresting us and thereby prod the Justice
Department into enforcing the law of the land.”116 The original Riders were never
arrested and did not have a chance to use that tactic.
The students believed that this approach would work since they had seen it work
to their advantage during their sit-ins in Nashville. Most of the initial reinforcement and
leaders of the student run Freedom Rides had been key figures during the sit-ins.117 The
students were trained by Jim Lawson to handle being arrested and anticipated the harsh
treatment of Southern police. They had faith that the students would be able to handle
the experience of the jails and that the outcomes would be well worth their while.
Despite civil rights organizations like CORE promoting the jail-no-bail tactic,
they did not actually follow through with this. It was the students that were able to
114
Arsenault, 283.
Arsenault, 94.
116
James Farmer quoted in Wexler, 114-115.
117
Zinn, 40.
115
Bertschy, 38
follow through. The students had been arrested in Birmingham under Bull Connor’s
discretion and had all stayed in jail until he finally let them go.118 When the Riders were
arrested in Mississippi,119 they again complied with the verdict and went to jail.120
The jail-no-bail tactic depended on the media to work to its full extent. With this
continuous cycle of young Riders being sentenced, they expected this would draw the
attention of the media. In the Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee’s121 first press
release they explained that the purpose of filling the jails was to “keep a sharp image of
the issues before the public.”122 The movement was well aware that they depended on
public interest in order for change to be enacted.
The students proved to be the perfect resource for this tactic. As students it was
possible for them to stay in jail, while for most of the older members of the movement
this was impossible. Stokely Carmichael, a student Rider, understood their important
role and wrote in his autobiography:
As students we have a unique responsibility. At this stage of life we are at our
most free. The freest we will ever be. We have neither family, career, mortgage,
or any other adult responsibilities to tie us down. If we can’t afford to do this
now, when will we be?123
The students did not have other obligations so they were actually able to stay in jail. The
older Riders had issues with this because they had commitments. One of the riders of
118
When arrested in Birmingham, they had actually remained in jail without any formal charges filed. This
helps to prove how vehemently the southern officials believed in segregation. Officials like Bull Connor
believed so much in the cause of segregation that he was willing to break more laws in order to protect the
existence of segregation. Arsenault, 190-198; Halberstam, 299
119
They were arrested as soon as they stepped off of the busses in Jackson, Mississippi. The formal
charges of the Freedom Riders “inciting to riot, breach of the peace, and failure to obey a police officer, not
violation of state or local segregation laws” Arsenault, 271.
120
Patterson, 44; Arsenault, 271.
121
The FRCC was made up of King and Bernard Lee of SCLC; Gordon Carey of CORE; Ed King of
SNCC; 2 preachers representing NCLC. Arsenault, 282
122
Arsenault, 283.
123
Carmichael with Thelwell, 223.
Bertschy, 39
SNCC’s continuation, John Maguire, commented that the only reason he and his
colleagues were posting bail was because of their teaching responsibilities and final
exams that he had to administer.124 They had their jobs and livelihood at risk while the
younger riders did not.
For some of the students, graduation was one of the most important things that
they were missing. But riders like John Lewis felt that “Graduation seemed trivial
compared to the importance of this venture”125 They believed that they were fulfilling a
more important purpose by being in jail. Also, the students’ Rides took place from May
through August. Most colleges were out on summer vacation during most of those
months. Thus, the students had the opportunity to participate and not disrupt their studies
and could again literally donate their bodies to the cause of freedom.
When the students were arrested due to their involvement in the Rides, they still
continued to fight for integration. Because they were students, they were able to get even
more people involved in the movement even after they were arrested. The students had a
large support network on the outside making sure they were properly cared for. They had
protective parents and teachers who were watching the news for word and harassing
officials to find out as much as possible. Parents and teachers sent letters, telegrams, and
made phone calls trying to get their release.126 At one point Parchman, one of the prisons
in Mississippi where the Riders were held stopped allowing the Freedom Riders visitors.
The parents sent even more letters demanding their constitutional right until they were
granted their visitation privileges again.127
124
Arsenault, 284.
Lewis with D’Orso, 129.
126
Congress of Racial Equality, reel 44.
127
Ibid.
125
Bertschy, 40
At this point the students were heavily involved in the movement by having
donated their bodies to the cause, but they were also able to convert their parents into
activists. The parents of the imprisoned students also tried everything they could to try to
get the students out of jail. They sent letters to the state government and even federal
government demanding the release of their children.128 The President and Attorney
General were sent telegrams demanding that they preserve the rights of the jailed
students.129
During this time, going to jail was not insignificant. And the fact that they were
willing to spend time in jail should not be dismissed. There were many blacks who had
been arrested and were never heard from again.130 Going to any jail is certainly not an
easy thing, but especially not the Mississippi jails. On one occasion when booking the
newly arrested Freedom Riders in Mississippi, the police officers fell silent when it was
told that a Freedom Rider was from Mississippi so knew of the dangers and yet was there
before them. Captain Ray who booked the Riders told the young Jim Bevel, “you out to
know better than to come back here.”131
Not all of the Freedom Riders could submit to the “jail-no-bail” strategy because
of the harsh treatment of the southern jails. However, it was mostly the older members
who bailed out. When the Riders were arrested in Montgomery, all of the older nonstudent participants bailed out after only one night in prison.132 The student riders
128
Ibid.
Congress of Racial Equality, May 1961, reel 44.
130
Dr. William G Anderson quoted in Eyes on the Prize: No Easy Walk, created and Produced by
Blackside, Inc and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
131
Captain Ray quoted in Halberstam, 349.
132
Arsenault, 283.
129
Bertschy, 41
showed that they had more courage and perseverance than the older riders. Without their
support, the jail-in-tactic would not have been as successful.
In the jails there were no video cameras or reports, thus the Southern authorities
could do whatever they pleased with the riders without it being plastered all over the
news. And mistreat them they did. Even though they had been arrested for only minor
crimes, they were treated like any hardened criminal. John Lewis wrote that when they
first arrived at the jails,
We were led into a cement building and forced to take off all our clothes… for
more than two hours we stood there stripped naked… this was an attempt to
dehumanize us. Then they led us two by two, two blacks, two whites- segregation
started as soon as we were inside the jail. They demanded we take a shower with
an armed guard standing by. If you had a beard or a mustache, you had to shave it
off… After taking a shower you were taken to your cell and given a Mississippi
undershirt and a pair of shorts.133
This was unfortunately the least of what the riders put up with at Parchman, yet even this
could not dissuade the students of the importance of the rides. In their underwear, they
were power hosed down and then forced to shiver through the air-conditioning on full
blast during the hot, humid Mississippi summer nights. Their mattresses were taken
away so they were forced to sleep on the cold springs or even colder floor.134 The guards
also used wrist breakers to control the Riders. 135 The prison guards tried everything to
treat the Riders like they were not human, including the use of a cattle-shocker.136 When
133
John Lewis quoted in Boyd, 96.
Carmichael with Thelwell, 205.
135
Through the use of the wrist breakers, the Riders had to succumb to the demands of the officers.
Carmichael describes wrist breakers as being extremely painful. “The pain was excruciating. If you tried
to ignore the pain, they’d twist it laterally so that you would feel your bones in the joints of your arm about
to break. Involuntarily, your whole body would have to follow your arm. You’d leave your feet and flip
over like a fish. If they continued to twist, you’d find yourself rolling over on the floor following the
pressure on your arm.” Ibid, 207.
136
Peck, Freedom Ride, 148.
134
Bertschy, 42
southerners described Parchman as being a “hell,” they were certainly not overstating the
conditions.137
When the Riders did return to the “free” world, they did not hesitate to speak with
reporters about their treatment. While in Parchman, they had not been made to
participate on the road gangs due to the fear that the officials had of them talking with
reporters. However, once on the outside they were able to comment on their treatment.
Reports of the harsh treatment they received in prison helped rally support for their cause
as well as put more pressure on the federal government to intervene. Individuals who had
nothing to do with the Freedom Rides or civil rights movement came to the aid of the
inmates. White women in Jackson anonymously donated funds for toiletries and other
necessities.138 Labor Day parades around the nation, including big cities like New York
and Detroit, were littered with signs and placards stating their support for the Freedom
Riders.139
Even more importantly for the safety of the students while they were in prison,
the other prisoners were on their side in this fight for freedom. It appears that the inmates
treated the Freedom Riders with much more respect than the jailors. They formed a
community in which they assisted each other.140 James Farmer141 wrote that while in jail
one of the inmates had even said, “you’re our friends.”142 The Freedom Riders would
137
Lewis with D’Orso, 172.
Peck, 152; Betsy Loyckoff, “Letter to Gordon Carey,” (Congress of Racial Equality), in The Papers of
the Congress of Racial Equality, 1941-1967, (Stanford, NC: Microfilming Corp. of America, 1980),
microfiche, reel 44.
139
(Congress of Racial Equality), in The Papers of the Congress of Racial Equality, 1941-1967, (Stanford,
NC: Microfilming Corp. of America, 1980), microfiche, reel 47.
140
Halberstam, 267, 343.
141
In the quotes from Farmer he is describing what the conditions were like for the Freedom Riders in
prison and the majority of the Riders were students.
142
James Farmer’s article quoted in Peck, 145.
138
Bertschy, 43
entertain the prisoners with their songs.143 The songs served the purpose of not only
annoying the officers144 and showing their defiance towards their arrest but also
communicating their mission to the inmate population. Stokely Carmichael claimed that
the songs helped to unify the African prisoner population with the “political prisoners,”
the Freedom Riders.145 The prisoners would not only listen but would even join in on the
songs so that there were non-riders singing with the Freedom Riders.146 This helped to
spread the movement within the jails. In this arena, the students were able to expand
their movement to a new audience that had never been used before.
Prisoners of both races were being taught about the cause of the Freedom Riders.
Farmer wrote about how a distinctively white Mississippi voice even shouted his
approval and that he was “for integration one hundred per cent. Sing more songs,
Freedom Riders.”147 The Riders found that they had helped spread their movement to the
jails and get supporters from both races.
In the jails the students were also able to spread the teachings of their movement.
Carol Ruth Silver described how in Parchman they also set up nonviolent workshops and
political seminars to enable the prisoners to join the movement. 148 The Freedom Riders
accomplished much even while in the Mississippi prisons.
When there was violence between the prisoners and the Riders, it was at the
demand of the police officers. Carmichael described how he had been beaten by the hand
of an African American prisoner at the bidding of a prison guard because Carmichael
143
Bell and Bell, CORE: and the strategy of non-violence, 40.
Bull Connor told reporters that “this was one of the worst things about this experience for him- listening
to the sound of our singing.” Lewis, 149.
145
Carmichael, 198.
146
Arsenault, 296.
147
Farmer’s article quoted in Peck, 145.
148
Arsenault, 361.
144
Bertschy, 44
would not follow his orders. He describes that “he [Shorty, the prisoner] coulda hurt me
[Carmichael] real bad, man. But he was pulling up. I could feel it, man. Besides, I know
it hurt him worse than it hurt me. Every blow he came down on me, Shorty was crying,
man.”149 The prisons in the South during this time often used inmates to inflict
punishment on each other. However, in this case, the inmates found it morally difficult to
inflict pain on the students.
The jails were more useful to the movement than anyone had imagined. Although
they never succeeded in the intent of the jail-no-bail tactic by completely stopping the
process, they were able to advance their movement by forcing others to become involved.
The older generations of activists were often unable to stay in the jails, so the vast
majority of those jailed were students. Their parents and teachers were thrust into the
role of activist to demand their safety. During this time, they were able to portray to the
nation the harsh treatment of the south. They were also able to tap into the resources of
the jailed inmates and were able to persuade most of them to join in on their cause.
When the inmates were freed, they already knew the tactics of non-violence and could
join in on their cause. Without student involvement, none of this would have occurred.
VIII. Government Assistance
Even with all the violence and media attention that came with the CORE Freedom
Ride, they were unable to gain the support from the federal government that was
necessary to guarantee the protection of the Riders. The Kennedy administration was
being scrutinized by the movement for their unwillingness to show support or become
active participants in overruling the segregationist rule of the South in favor of the laws
149
Carmichael, 205.
Bertschy, 45
of the nation. They were well aware that they could not idly sit back and watch the
murder of young American students.
After the incidents in Birmingham and Anniston, the federal government had
certainly received the message that southern brutality would occur to force the Ride to
stop. Although President Kennedy had been elected to office in part due to his
desegregationist views, the civil rights activists had been unable to force him into taking
any direct action. He had stated during his campaign for the presidency that he would
wipe out discrimination within federal housing with the “stroke of a pen.”150 Much time
had passed since his inauguration and he had not come through with his promise of his
progressive stance on civil rights. James Farmer and other activists “decided that his pen
must have run dry.”151 The student Freedom Riders hoped to provide him the
opportunity to find a new pen and paper.
With the announcement of the renewal of the Freedom Rides by the Nashville
Student Movement and SNCC, the government was in shock. They had hoped that the
nuisance of the Freedom Rides had passed without too much damage. The Kennedy
administration had hoped that they would not have to become too involved, but the
students would not allow the administration to sit idly by. “It was at that point, after the
SNCC students went into Birmingham, Bobby Kennedy the Attorney General became
really involved”152 in the Freedom Rides.
150
Stephen F. Lawson and Charles Payne, Debating the Civil Rights Movement 1945 1968 (Second Edition,
Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006), 20; Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails
created and Produced by Blackside, Inc and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS,
1986.
151
James Farmer quoted in Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails created and Produced by
Blackside, Inc and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
152
Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails created and Produced by Blackside, Inc and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
Bertschy, 46
Robert Kennedy had been relentlessly working with the governor of Alabama
John Patterson to guarantee the safety of the Riders. John Seigenthaler, personal assistant
to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, was sent to Montgomery to try to restore some
semblance of order in Montgomery after the riot on May 20th, 1961. Seigenthaler was
only sent to Alabama to demand state intervention from Governor John Patterson when
Patterson would no longer talk with the Kennedys.153
Although Seigenthaler was sent to Alabama to meet with Patterson, he soon found
himself directly in the path of mob violence. He had managed to meet with Patterson and
was able to elicit the word of Floyd Mann, the director of the Alabama Highway Patrol,
that the Riders would receive safe passage through Alabama.154 Seigenthaler had been
informed that the Freedom Riders would be entering Montgomery and he wanted to
witness first hand the protection they were being given.
Seigenthaler confidently believed that the state would be able to provide adequate
protection for the Riders.155 Thus, Seigenthaler made a leisurely journey to the bus
terminal, even making an extra stop for gas and coffee before heading to the site.156
Unfortunately, the racism of local officials had been grossly underestimated. When
Seigenthaler arrived at the bus terminal, he was greeted by a rioting crowd of Southerners
viciously attacking the Freedom Riders. Though he originally had no intention of
participating himself, Seigenthaler could not stand by and watch the young students being
brutalized and felt he had to become involved.
153
Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails created and Produced by Blackside, Inc and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986 ; Arsenault, 194.
154
Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails created and Produced by Blackside, Inc and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986 ; Arsenault, 205.
155
Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails created and Produced by Blackside, Inc and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986;
156
Lewis, 156.
Bertschy, 47
He “instinctively”157 rushed to the rescue of a young student, Susan Wilbur, who
was being beaten by the mob. In an interview after the conclusion of the Freedom Rides,
he noted her youthful age and how this sight had shocked him into immediate action.158
It was the sight of this young student and the brutality that was ensuing that forced him to
act, even though she requested that he not get involved.159
Although Susan Wilbur could not have known it at the time, Seigenthaler’s act
was possibly one of the most important moments of the student movement. With her
hesitation to accept his help, the mob in turn retaliated on him. He had stated that he was
a federal agent but the mob paid no heed and he was struck on the head by a pipe. It was
estimated that the federal agent lay on the ground unconscious for twenty minutes before
being discovered by a reporter.160
Mann had also not trusted the local officials and stationed highway patrolmen
close to the terminal.161 Unfortunately, he had not arrived soon enough, nor was he fully
prepared for the situation at hand. When word of his presence reached the local
authorities, they finally started to assert some power.162 Unfortunately, this was after the
mob had attacked Seigenthaler and the Riders.
Needless to say, Robert Kennedy was furious with Governor Patterson when he
received word of Seigenthaler’s condition. Luckily, Seigenthaler survived but he
received fairly substantial injuries of a fractured skull and a few broken ribs.163
157
Seigenthaler quoted in Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails created and Produced by Blackside,
Inc and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
158
Eyes on the Prize: Ain’t Scared of Your Jails created and Produced by Blackside, Inc and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
159
Ibid.
160
Lewis, 157; Arsenault, 214.
161
Arsenault, 215.
162
Ibid, 216.
163
Ibid. 220.
Bertschy, 48
Although Seigenthaler had certainly not intended to become a part of the student
movement, he became an indispensable asset to the movement. Hearing his personal aide
was injured forced Robert Kennedy to take action. It was “the final straw.”164 Soon
after, the Attorney General activated the mobilization plan demanding marshals in
Alabama within twenty-four hours.165 Historian Raymond Arsenault said of Kennedy’s
actions that “allowing a gang of white supremacist roughnecks to beat up a bunch of kids
in front of the press was bad enough. Standing by while a personal representative of the
president of the United States was assaulted in the street was unforgivable.”166 Arsenault
emphasizes that the use of the students made an impression but it was also the beating of
the federal agent that finally forced the government into action. The mobilization of
federal troops was an immense victory for the student movement. Finally, it appeared as
if the federal government would be forced to help them out and all because Seigenthaler
could not stand by and just watch a young female student in need.
The students were able to use their innocence to finally get the attention of
President Kennedy. It is the students who pushed until President Kennedy finally
reached his limit and had to intervene on their behalf. Even though it was the “top” that
made change occur, they were unwilling to move until the students forced them.
IX. Conclusion
The students contributed greatly in gaining the support from the other movements,
the nation, and the President, in order to force change. They succeeded in obtaining the
federal support and on September 21, 1961 the Interstate Commerce Commission made a
164
Ibid, 220.
Ibid. 220.
166
Ibid, 221.
165
Bertschy, 49
unanimous ruling prohibiting racial discrimination in interstate bus transit. This took
effect November 1, 1961 and all busses were required to comply and display a sign
stating “Seating aboard this vehicle is without regard to race, color, creed, or national
origin, by order of the Interstate Commerce Commission.”167 All terminal facilities also
had to comply with the new ICC regulations.
They had won their battle and had become a major force in the Civil Rights
movement. Diane McWhorter states that the Freedom Riders were “one of history’s rare
alchemical phenomena, altering the structural makeup of everything they [the Freedom
Riders] touched.”168 They caused the entire movement to reshape itself and the strategies
they used. With their success, they proved that students had the agency to create change
and empowered other students to take on civil rights campaigns. James Meredith found
that they created “a new spirit among blacks”169 and credits his readiness to attempt to
desegregate the University of Mississippi to the Freedom Rides.
Many of the student Riders continued with the civil rights campaign. Jim Bevel
used what he learned during the Freedom Rides and continued it in Birmingham two
years later. He had found that the best way to get adults to participate was to get their
children involved.170 Bevel stated that he used children because “[he] can not argue the
power of the government, however without students forcing them to move change would
have occurred much slower if at all.”171 He had learned that students could bring
167
Arsenault, 439.
Ibid, 478.
169
James Meredith quoted in Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back, created and produced by Blackside, Inc and
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
170
Bevel quoted in Eyes on the Prize: No Easy Walk, created and produced by Blackside, Inc and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting for WGBH and PBS, 1986.
171
Ibid
168
Bertschy, 50
importance to a cause and do just as much as any adult in twisting the arm of the
government.
With all this in mind, it seems impossible to ignore the role of the student
Freedom Riders. However, some historians believe that they were not essential to the
Civil Rights Movement, mostly because they did not have the power to legislate social
change. Historians like Steven Lawson find that it is not the political pressure that
matters but rather the courts, Congress, and President who are responding to this
pressure. They are more important since they had the influence over the timing of
desegregation.172 He argues that “President Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson flexed
their federal muscles at key moments to smash southern white resistance to court-ordered
desegregation”173 They find the entire movement to be a “top-down” movement in which
the elite figures matter, so it is inconsequential if the students are not mentioned in the
accounts of the Rides.
However, this is forgetting the hundreds of activists who forced Kennedy to find
his pen and make the ICC change their policies in a timely fashion. Historians who find
the role of the students to be pivotal do not want to eliminate the role that the President
and Courts had in the movement from the history books. Rather, they desire an academic
discussion of the role of both the institutions and the grassroots movement. Charles
Payne believes that the student movement helped to show that “it was [the] disruption
and potential embarrassment that got the national machinery in motion.”174 The elite
power was the machine that created the civil rights, but it is the people who pressed
“start.” It was the students who reached for that button when the others were incapable.
172
Lawson, 11, 17.
Lawson, 41.
174
Payne, 133.
173
Bertschy, 51
Ignoring the involvement of the students in the Freedom Rides only does a
disservice to the understanding of the movement. Raising Americans with a
“whitewashed version of movement history”175 ignores crucial elements of the movement
itself. This version leaves out that students hold agency and that the people are
important. It shows that the population can create change when the government is
unwilling or changing slowly. Every voice actually does make a difference regardless of
age, race, sex, or class. CORE had deserted the Freedom Rides before the federal
government was involved and long before the necessity of change was fully established.
The students had overcome obstacles to continue and were able to bring elements to the
Rides that the adults could not. Their sweat, determination, and willingness to face death
for the cause of the Freedom Rides should not be understated or ignored.
175
Payne, 124.
Bertschy, 52
Figure 1
Photograph of the Greyhound bus after the May 14, 1961 riot.
Arsenault, 147
Figure 2
Image of the student Riders
Arsenault, 203.
Figure 3
Depiction of Southern mob printed
in The Washinton Post. Writing
says “We Don’t Want No
Troublemakers from the US.”
Herblock, “Enduring Outrage:
Editorial Cartoons By Herblock,”
available from
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/herblock-exhibition.html.
Bertschy, 53
Figure 4
Picture of white southern mob
Arsenault, 155
Figure 5
Photograph of John Lewis and Jim Zwerg
after riot on May 20, 1961
Arsenault, 217.
Figure 6
Figure 7
Photograph of Jim Zwerg
after riot on May 20, 1961
Photograph of Jim Zwerg in hospital bed
after riot on May 20, 1961 holding a
newspaper with his picture on the cover
Arsenault, 217; orbis.com
Bausum, 51.
Bertschy, 54
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