This chapter of our walk through history takes us to two locations twelve city blocks apart in downtown Montgomery. In the late 1940s, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that segregation on interstate buses and trains was unconstitutional. But this ruling had never been enforced in the south. Southern states maintained laws enforcing segregation.
May 4, 1961, thirteen individuals boarded buses in Washington, D.C. on an interstate trip through the south to New Orleans to compel the federal government to enforce the law. The trip was organized by CORE, the Congress On Racial Equality. CORE, organized in Chicago in 1942, promoted nonviolent civil disobedience for the purpose of challenging racial segregation. CORE began organizing “Freedom Rides” as early as 1947. Included in the group were John Lewis, James Farmer, and James Peck, a 47 year old white CORE member who had participated in the 1947 ride.
On May 14, the Freedom Riders in route from Washington were violently attacked while traveling through Alabama. One bus was attacked in Anniston and one in Birmingham. Local authorities did not provide protection; many riders were injured, including William Barbee who was paralyzed for life. The bus in Anniston was firebombed, and photos made international headlines, pressing President Kennedy into action. The bus lines refused to provide buses and drivers because of the dangerous incidents, and the effort seemed to be thwarted. But a group of students from Nashville, led by Diane Nash, decided to join the original riders and continue the rides. Understanding the danger and uncertainty of the endeavor, they went to Birmingham.
The Kennedy administration pressed for the riders to be given protection to complete the ride. Eventually, on Saturday, May 20, the riders left Birmingham in route to Montgomery under state police protection. But once inside of Montgomery, the state police pulled away. An angry mob attacked the riders at the Montgomery Greyhound station. The mob also attacked journalists and destroyed their equipment. These riders knew that they risked violence and possibly death, and these threats again became a reality in Montgomery. The mob attacked with fists, baseball bats and pipes. Even a federal representative was knocked unconscious with a pipe and left on the street.
After the bus station beating in broad daylight, other prominent Civil Rights leaders including Martin Luther King and Fred Shuttlesworth gathered to consult with the freedom riders about the next steps. President Kennedy sent 600 federal marshals to Montgomery. On the night of May 22, 1961, a mass meeting was held at the First Baptist Church on North Ripley Street, near the state capitol, 12 blocks from the Greyhound bus station on Court Street. Ralph Abernathy was the pastor. Late into the night, the overflowing church was surrounded by several thousand angry demonstrators. The electricity and phone lines were cut. The movement participants inside were in a very vulnerable position, surrounded by the angry mob on the outside. Federal Marshals attempted to control the crowd but their teargas was ineffective.
Rev. Shuttlesworth exhorted the crowd, “It is a sin and a shame before God that these people who govern us would let things come to such a sad state. But God is not dead. The most guilty man in this state tonight is Governor John Patterson.” (Eyes on the Prize, p. 158) At 3:00 a.m., Robert Kennedy spoke to King by phone in the church, and Kennedy urged Governor Patterson to take control of the situation and protect the protesters. Eventually, Patterson mobilized the Alabama National Guard to disperse the crowd outside and escort the meeting participants from the church.
Determined to continue the ride, twenty-seven Freedom Riders left for Mississippi on May 24. In Mississippi, they were arrested without any violence and placed not in jail but in the state prison. The riders continued to display the principles of nonviolence and encouraged one another with songs of the movement during their time in prison. The spirit and determination of the Freedom Riders inspired people around the country, and hundreds came to participate in freedom rides throughout the south during the summer. Over 400 were arrested in various places. As a result of the movement, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued orders to desegregate interstate buses and trains, terminals, terminal restrooms and lunch counters. Blacks and whites across the country were inspired to get involved in other civil rights causes such as voter registration and voting rights movements.
Eyes on the Prize, Chapter 5 “Down Freedom’s Main Line,” (1987), Juan Williams
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Racial_Equality