Freedom Rider

A “Riders” Perspective

His/145

Carole Lormand

July 20, 2010

Chad Shane Coffelt

Chad Shane Coffelt Page 1 7/24/12

Things are tense, my hands are sweaty and my heart will not stop beating. Heading to New Orleans a place known for its tight segregations laws and policy’s, I am nervous because I am afraid of the violence, comparable to the violence we have experienced in the other cities visited. However, I know I must be strong, I know what I am standing up for is right. Being a “freedom rider” and being on this bus is not an easy thing in 1960, we are not met with smiling faces and gracious hellos, but rather with hateful stares and closed fists. We are mere students working in conjunction with Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) tasked with the enormous responsibility of forcing these close-minded people to desegregate bus stations. The task is more often than not, met with people willing to die just to keep the bus stop white only, pressing on even after we know the possibility of violence is there, we believe that this is essential for the desegregation of America.

Siting on the bus after leaving Birmingham, headed to New Orleans, I remember reading about the first “freedom ride.” In 1947 CORE with the help of a group called Fellowship of Reconciliation, organized a desegregated bus ride across the upper south. The leaders of these groups at the time thought it would be best to travel only in the upper/more tolerant portions of the south to avoid the violence. Unfortunately, the protest went unnoticed by the media and most people did not even know it happened. Fast-forward to1960, CORE decided that it was once again time to take a bus ride, only now they were not going to shy away from the Deep South. Instead they were going to take them “head on.” May 4th was the departure date, we were leaving Washington DC and headed to New Orleans, on the way stopping at places like Virginia, South Carolina, and Mississippi.

Thinking about the places...