Freedom Riders Challenge Segregation on Southern Buses
Thirteen Freedom Riders, seven Black and six white, departed Washington D.C. on May 4, 1961, aboard two buses bound for New Orleans to test the Supreme Court's Boynton v. Virginia ruling that segregation in interstate travel facilities was unconstitutional. In Anniston, Alabama, a mob firebombed one bus and beat the riders. In Birmingham, Commissioner Bull Connor gave the KKK 15 minutes to attack riders at the bus station before sending police. In Montgomery, riders were beaten with pipes and baseball bats. Attorney General Robert Kennedy eventually ordered US Marshals to protect them. The riders reached Jackson, Mississippi, where they were arrested and sent to Parchman Farm penitentiary. By summer's end, over 400 Freedom Riders had been arrested, forcing the ICC to enforce desegregation.
May 4, 1961
65 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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