Segregated interstate bus and train travel was unquestionably illegal in 1961; the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional in 1946. Further, the Court ruled in Boynton v. Virginia (1960) that waiting rooms and terminals for interstate passengers also had to be desegregated.

Organizers of the Freedom Rides, which began May 4, 1961, planned them as a means to expose illegally segregated travel facilities in the South. Just as the sit-ins were for "more than just a hamburger," the Freedom Rides set out to challenge Jim Crow in bus and train travel, and to point out to America the indignities committed against one segment of society in violation of federal law.

Two groups of Freedom Riders set off from Washington, D.C. en route to New Orleans. They were arrested in South Carolina, and their bus was bombed in Anniston, Alabama. Outrage at the violence inspired others organizations such as SNCC and the NAACP to join the campaign. After more Freedom Riders were attacked in Birmingham, Alabama, bus drivers refused to take them any further until Attorney General Robert Kennedy demanded that the bus company find a driver and that Alabama officials protect the riders. When the police escort disappeared outside Montgomery, violence erupted again. Kennedy sent federal marshals in to deal with the situation. The group eventually had to fly to New Orleans for their own safety.

The Freedom Riders became an important symbol of courage and an opportunity for collaboration between various organizations.

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John Lewis
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