The Freedom Rides 1961
- Created by: florineruby
- Created on: 07-04-15 19:44
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- 1960: Boynton v Virginia case
Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional for Southern states to impose segregation at interstate bus terminals in their state - James Farmer, who revitalised CORE after its post-war decline decided to test whether this could be enforced
The Plan:
- Group of black and white protestors travel from Washington to New Orleans
- If they were able to mix on the bus or at bus terminals, they would have defeated segregation
- If attacked in defiance of federal law, they would gain positive media coverage and pressure would be placed on federal politicians to intervene
- Any violence against white protestors would have a particularly big impact
What happened:
- First attack was at Rock Hill, South Carolina
- Then at Anniston, Alabama the bus was firebombed
- Police did nothing on both occasions
- It took 30 state trooper cars and police helicopters circling overhead to prevent further attacks
- Until bus reached Birmingham, Alabama, where…
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