-CORE stands for Congress on Racial Equality. -They were the group that formed the Freedom Rides of 1961 -CORE was formed in 1942 as a civil rights organization by students of the University of Chicago. -CORE was based on the ideas of non-violent protest, and civil disobedience. -It was created in the 1940s to act against the Jim Crow Laws. -In the 1950s it organized sit-ins. -In 1961 it was responsible for the Freedom Rides. -Later in the 70s and 80s, it helped with “self-determination” and “equal opportunities”. -In the nineties it sponsored the development of communities. -It is still active to this day, working for racial equality. -CORE’s motto is “Truth, Logic, and Courage!” -Its national headquarters are located in New York, and its main area of operation is in the United States; but it also has other groups in regions around …show more content…
to New Orleans, Louisiana. -The Freedom Rides were created as an act of peaceful protest against segregation in interstate bus stations and buses. In 1960 the Supreme Court (in the Boynton v. Virginia case) had ruled that segregation of interstate facilities was unconstitutional. -The 1961 Freedom Rides were modeled after the Journey of Reconciliation of 1947. This was a protest to test the Supreme Court’s (Morgan v. Virginia case) ruling in 1946 that segregation in bus seating was unconstitutional. -For the Freedom Rides, CORE selected seven African-American students and six white students. -CORE planned for the riders to leave Washington D.C. in early May, to then arrive in New Orleans Louisiana, on May 17, to honor the 7th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education case. -On May 4, 1961, the 13 Freedom Riders left Washington D.C. riding in a Greyhound Bus. -The first week went well as the group moved down through Virginia and North Carolina. Once they entered South Carolina, this
Black liberation was stalled once again in 1961 and 1962, as white savagery reared its head again and black people were forced to deal with the reality that success was not inevitable, yet. Still more "sit-ins", "shoe- ins" were led to combat segregation in public places which were met with violent responses from some white people. These responses ranged from burning down a bus with black people to assaulting black passengers on a train car in Anniston. These racist white people also targeted other white people who were deemed as sympathizers to black struggle or "nigger lovers". Police refused to arrest the white aggressors and in some cases also refused to protect the black people. The Freedom Rides resulted in both losses and gains in the civil rights movement. People came to the realization that justice will not be won through merely trying to persuade Southern whites with peaceful protest but only "when
Stanley Nelson chronicles the journey of a group of individuals, known as the Freedom Riders, whom fought for the rights of African Americans to have the same amenities and access as the Caucasians. The purpose of the Freedom Rides was to deliberately violate the Jim Crow laws of the south that prohibited blacks and whites from mixing together on buses and trains. Expectedly, many of the Freedom Riders were beaten and the majority was imprisoned. This carried on for the majority of 1961 and culminated with the Interstate Commerce Commission issuing an order to end the segregation in bus and rail stations. Nelson encapsulates this entire movement in about two hours. At the end of the two hours, the viewer is emotionally tied to the riders. For the sake of this analysis, I will focus on a portion towards the end of the film that gives us a sense of what kind of emotions victory evoked from those vested in the Freedom Rides. Nelson’s pairing of music and song coupled with a mixture of pictures and footage provides great emphasis to the subject matter while emotionally connecting the viewer.
The focus of the video documentary "Ain't Scared of your Jails" is on the courage displayed by thousands of African-American people who joined the ranks of the civil rights movement and gave it new direction. In 1960, lunch counter sit-ins spread across the south. In 1961, Freedom Rides were running throughout the southern states. These rides consisted of African Americans switching places with white Americans on public transportation buses. The whites sat in the back and black people sat in the front of the public buses. Many freedom riders faced violence and defied death threats as they strived to stop segregation by participating in these rides. In interstate bus travel under the Mason-Dixon Line, the growing movement toward racial equality influenced the 1960 presidential campaign. Federal rights verses state rights became an issue.
... throughout the South and the free schools for African Americans movement. The freedom rides also inspired black people in the south that were kept in isolation and fear due to political and economic bondage. Additionally, these freedom rides forced the media to uncover the true depths of southern racism to America at a time when the American government was busy testing its Nuclear Weapons after the Cold War. After five months of this nonviolent protest by the Freedom Riders and Nashville Student Movement, the federal government finally gave up in front of these activists. On September 22, 1961; the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ended the segregation in bus and rail stations eliminating the Jim Crow Law. The Congress of Racial Equality also became the most important active civil rights organization working for equal rights and justice for African Americans.
On May 4, 1961, the Freedom Riders left the safety of the integrated, northern city of Washington D.C. to embark on a daring journey throughout the segregated, southern United States (WGBH). This group of integrated white and black citizens rode together on buses through different towns to test the effectiveness of newly designed desegregation laws in bus terminals and areas surrounding them (Garry). Founded by the Congress of Racial Equality (Garry) , or CORE, the first two Freedom Ride buses included thirteen people as well as three journalists to record what would become imperative historical events in the Civil Rights Movement. This group of fifteen people would begin to emerge as an organization that would eventually reach 400 volunteers (WGBH). Those involved were mostly young, college students whose goal it was, as said by the CORE director James Farmer, to “…create a crisis so that the federal government would be compelled to enforce the law.”
Once the CORE expanded to 50 members, it engaged in discussion to end racial segregation. Over the next few years, CORE spread across the United States, battering down discriminatory barriers. The Freedom Rides were inspired by the Journey of Reconciliation -- an action taken by the members of CORE. Sixteen CORE members, black and white, challenged a 1946 Supreme Court ruling by travelling in interstate buses together to the South. Unfortunately, the Journey of Reconciliation did not receive as much publicity as expected, and it resulted in minor jail sentences for the participants.
Gross, Terry. "Get On the Bus: The Freedom Riders of 1961." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Foner, Eric and John A. Garraty. "Freedom Rides." The Reader's Companion to American History. 1 Dec. 1991: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 May. 2014. .
Holmes, Marian Smith. "The Freedom Riders, Then and Now | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine." History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian Magazine. Web. 05 Jan. 2012. .
The Freedom Rides took place in the early May, 1961 where two groups of students riding in integrated Greyhound buses would stop at rest stops and blacks would go into white only bathrooms and whites would go into black only bathrooms. These bus rides were supposed to start at Washington DC and go on straight through the Deep South. These students were trying to protest interstate segregation laws and put an end to them. The trip went smoothly at first, but later everything went south as one bus got burned and the people inside were beaten. The second bus was stopped not to long after and everyone onboard was beaten and put in a hospital. Neither bus made it to their destination but it did put an immense amount of attention on them as a multitude of people followed in their footsteps and over a hundred buses became dragged into a freedom ride. (A Time for Justice )This shows how much these students were willing to take as in being beaten without fighting back and it also shows the amount of dedication involved.
Racism affects everyone on Earth since people are all different. Leslie Marmon Silko wrote an essay called Fences Against Freedom. She was a person of mixed-ancestry who has faced racism very closely from childhood to adulthood. Early on She recalls being rejected from some school pictures, later as an adult, she was pulled over by Border Patrol officers all because of her ancestry. Leslie Marmon Silko points out that there is no race, but human race and; hence, racism should not exist. Silko was raised in her hometown where racism did not exist at all; people judged others by behavior and not by skin color, religion or origin. Nevertheless, coming out of her hometown environment racism was evident. People’s interactions were driven by attending to skin color, creed, ancestry and other biases. Racism affects everyone in the United States from foreigners to natives, as presented by Leslie Marmon Silko’s feelings of pride, disappointment, sympathy and anger as she confronts racism in the United States.
The two organizations are Project Equality and Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, whose mission is to focus on racial rights and problems. (Civil, 2017) There is also an official action towards the cause, which is called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). This organization began in 1942 and became a major part of the Civil Rights Movement. (History, 2017)
During the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans sought to have their Constitutional Rights permitted. One form of protesting came forth in the form of the Freedom Rides. After slavery ended, many amendments and laws were created to ensure the rights of African Americans, but because of prejudices and racism, most of these were ignored. The Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Fergunson established "separate but equal" on interstate transportation in 1896, but in 1947 the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. And although segregation was outlawed, Jim Crow laws still ruled the Deep South and “codified in law, sanctioned by the courts, and enforced by the ubiquitous threat of physical violence even more than legal reprisal" (Catsam 87). The Jim Crow laws drastically affected the public transportation systems of the South. The Congress of Racial Equality challenged the unfair laws with Freedom Rides, which "arose out of the need to end segregation at lunch counters, in bus terminals, as well as in other facilities essential to the intercity traveler" (Olds 17-18). The first freedom ride commenced in Washington, DC, in 1961.Because the first Freedom Riders were from the North, they didn't realize how harsh the racist South was and “violence in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama, would prove to be too much for the first group of freedom riders, who ended up flying from Birmingham to New Orleans. . ." (Catsam 94). However the movement didn't stop there because ". . .students from the Nashville Movement, led by Diane Nash, realized that to allow violence to stop the Rides would send a message that would do incalculable harm to the movement" and the progression of the African American race (94). The students choose to continue t...
Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.
The American Ideological Consensus is that “…the American people have shared much of the same ideals, the same basic principles, and the same patterns of belief” (McClenaghan 104). When America filled itself with ideologically homogenous people, their beliefs started to define our nation and became American identities. If asked what they think of America, peoples of other nations would say that the roads are made of glass, opportunity is in the air, and civil rights are plentiful. These accounts maybe accentuated; however, the underlying message is that the American people have more freedoms then the peoples of other nations do. The most widely known American identity is freedom, and even though that American identity has been tried and tested throughout much of its history, it can still be said that America is a land of liberty.