Freedom Rides
This map, originally published in a 1962 Associated Press article, shows a few of the over sixty bus routes followed by anti-segregationists and civil rights leaders across the southern United States in 1961 (Freedom Rides). Coined as “Freedom Rides”, these trips were made as peaceful protests with the goal of gaining more civil rights for African Americans, specifically in desegregating the public transportation systems throughout the southern United States. While Atlanta had previous rulings to desegregate – such as the lawsuits brought to light by the Triple L Movement – these laws were slow acting and difficult to enforce. The Freedom Rides were used to test more recent court rulings that banned segregation on interstate travel (Freedom Riders). The lines and arrows show the paths and directions of the journeys, and the major cities through which the activists traveled are labeled. The original CORE, or Congress on Racial Equality, freedom ride began in Washington D.C. and continued through Atlanta, Georgia; other rides took place across the region from St. Louis to New Orleans to Tampa (Freedom Rides). On several of the routes, date ranges are also included, indicating which months the protestors were present in the various parts of the region. In targeting cities with severe segregation and higher populations, the riders were able to attract significant media attention, document the racism and violence they were met with, and spread their message to a wide range of people. Shown on a public bus, Ralph Abernathy (left) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (right) were two prominent civil rights leaders during the time and participated in several of these peaceful protests. They organized many of the rides and demanded that African Americans should be treated fairly on public buses (Freedom Riders). The Freedom Riders were not focused on desegregating transportation in a sole city but, rather, they attempted to stage a peaceful protest that targeted all southern transportation hubs. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, the group encountered violent resistance in many of the cities they visited but travelled “unmolested through Georgia” and were “served courteously” in restaurants throughout the state (Freedom Riders). Though Atlanta was undoubtedly a segregated city in the 1960s, the city’s tolerant reception of the freedom riders showed a more progressive view on equality than was seen in many other southern cities. This also proved that the city’s transportation system had begun to comply with recently passed regulations and was working towards ultimate desegregation.
Works Cited
"Freedom Riders." New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project), 1961, https://dlg.usg.edu/record/nge_ngen_m-3082.
Freedom Rides, April – December 1961. February 1962, The Associated Press, https://www.crmvet.org/riders/frhome.htm.