The Freedom Rides Continue
Although it appeared that the Freedom Rides were over, members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) decided to continue the rides where CORE had left off. On May 17, seven men and three women arrived in Birmingham to continue the ride.On the bus, just outside of Birmingham, two riders were arrested and the others were taken to jail by Bull Conner. According to Conner, the riders were placed in custody for their own protection. On May 18, early in the morning, the police drove the riders toward the Tennessee state line, about 150 miles from Birmingham, and dropped them off.
Not deterred by this latest glitch, the riders were determined to continue. They arranged their return to the Birmingham and made plans to continue the ride. Once again, however, they were unable to find a willing bus driver.
In the meantime, Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General, was engaged in discussions with officials at Greyhound and with representatives of the state of Alabama. It was agreed that Greyhound would provide a driver and the local police would protect the riders.
Freedom Riders Face Resistance in Montgomery
On May 20, the Freedom Riders were back on their way to Montgomery. When the bus arrived at the Montgomery station, it appeared empty. Not even the police were in sight. Suddenly as the Freedom Riders began to get off the bus, Klansmen surrounded the bus and began to beat the riders. The beating stopped after Floyd Mann, the director of Alabama public safety, fired a shot into the air. Among those seriously injured by the attacks were Jim Zwerg, John Lewis, William Barbee, and John Seigenthaler, Robert Kennedy’s assistant.On May 21, Martin Luther King Jr. arrived in Montgomery to address the riders at Fred Shuttlesworth’s First Baptist Church. That evening as King spoke, a mob of 1,000 angry whites began to surround the church. Although the church was protected by federal marshals, they still managed to break several windows. The marshals used tear gas to control the crowd, but King and the participants in the church were locked inside. King, fearful of what might happen, contacted Robert Kennedy for help. Kennedy promised that once the Alabama National Guard arrived, they could safely leave. At 5:00 AM, they were able to leave the church.
The Freedom Riders were not ready to give up. On May 24, twenty-seven Freedom Riders boarded a Montgomery bus bound for Jackson, Mississippi. The riders were protected by the National Guard and U.S. marshals. When they arrived in Jackson, they walked into the white waiting room, where they were arrested for trespassing. They were sentenced to sixty days in jail. An additional 328 riders were arrested in Jackson by the end of the summer.
The Freedom Rides Lead to the Desegregation of Interstate Busing
The Freedom Rides led to the desegregation of interstate busing. In September 1961, after a petition from Robert Kennedy, the Interstate Commerce Commission passed regulations that enabled the federal government to enforce the Supreme Court ruling forbidding segregated interstate travel. The regulations took effect on November 1, 1961.
