Freedom Rides
May 4, 1961 through November of 1961
By 1961 segregation on public buses was gone, so blacks and whites could sit together because the Supreme Court had deemed segregation on public buses unconstitutional. A group of seven blacks and six whites took two public buses down to the South to test the Supreme Court ruling. The first week they encountered minor hostility but the second week the riders were severely beaten. But in a town in Alabama one of their buses was burned! Attacks like this continued throughout their trip. In Montgomery, they were attacked by a group of 1000 protesters. But these attacks didn't stop the group from finishing the trip. The riders also earned support from the nation and sparked other freedom rides like this. By the end of November 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued rules and prohibited segregated transportation facilities.