Just came across the notice that on PBS tonight is a special about the Freedom Riders. Of our young, of our leaders, few have been as brave as them. To this day the concept of the rides is difficult to fathom and there could have been a recruiting pitch that went like this:
"We're looking for volunteers to ride buses through the most racist parts of this country. You won't know when it's gonna come but at some point the bus will be stopped and hordes of angry hateful people will get on the bus and either address you as "nigger" or "nigger lover". They will then attempt to crush your head with their fists, pipes, knives, and anything they can get their hands on. You will not fight back. We will show you how to curl up and keep your brain matter in your heads but that's about it. If you want to help protect you neighbor, you place your body in harms' way. Forget about the police because some of these people will be the police. If you're lucky, you might only be spat on and kicked. Don't worry so much about the fire; it's the smoke and gas fumes you might be concerned about. So who's our first volunteer?"
Make your funeral arrangements before you leave. Getting on a bus to hell. Who wants to volunteer? And yet, there were volunteers. Although it would have been a huge lift for everyone if Doctor King went along- he considered doing so- but he most likely would have been killed. While everyone on the bus understood, it probably felt a little lonelier. They received a full police escort until at one point in Alabama, the police all...left. A crowd was waiting and the bus was set on fire. As the riders exited the bus, they were hit hard and often; broken teeth, faces, bones. Some of the white riders were beaten even with more vile and hate for this perceived trespass. Saved from death by people passing by in their cars or people walking by who were willing to take the battery on themselves. An undercover agent for the Kennedy administration (as much there to spy on the riders) tried to stop the carnage by identifying himself was also hit by lead pipes.
Other rides were accompanied by more beatings; crazed mob violence. At one bus station, the feeding frenzy even took down one of the KKK's own- he had just gotten out of the bathroom and walked into the feeding frenzy and was mistaken for one of the sympathizers. Eventually the riders were taken to the worst penitentiary in Mississippi, a move approved by the Kennedy administration, hoping to end the rides. However more volunteers came forward and eventually 400 riders were in the penitentiary, coming from all parts of our country creating a community of peaceful forceful Freedom Riders. The Kennedy administration saw that there would be no stopping of the volunteers and they then pressed for the end of segregation in the South.
(this is when the Southern States began their turn to Republican States).
Other rides were accompanied by more beatings; crazed mob violence. At one bus station, the feeding frenzy even took down one of the KKK's own- he had just gotten out of the bathroom and walked into the feeding frenzy and was mistaken for one of the sympathizers. Eventually the riders were taken to the worst penitentiary in Mississippi, a move approved by the Kennedy administration, hoping to end the rides. However more volunteers came forward and eventually 400 riders were in the penitentiary, coming from all parts of our country creating a community of peaceful forceful Freedom Riders. The Kennedy administration saw that there would be no stopping of the volunteers and they then pressed for the end of segregation in the South.
(this is when the Southern States began their turn to Republican States).
One of the riders was John Lewis, a young man who grew up on a farm, stuttered whenever he spoke publicly. Not long after being stitched back up from a freedom ride, he marched from Selma to Montgomery and suffered a fractured skull by another hateful mob. Today John Lewis has served as a respected congressman for the good state of Georgia. He has publicly forgave even the idiots that clubbed him on the head. He struck the a blow to John McCain's campaign when he called out McCain for letting his campaign run ads that were racist- McCain's respect for Congressman Lewis made this the most difficult accusation that he personally faced during the Presidential Campaign.
Another great person (none of these folks set out to be great- they just did what they thought was the right thing to do) and hero of mine is Diane Nash, pictured above. Although picked as a leader with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for her thoughtfulness and people skills, Nash was shy and full of considerable doubt . After a bombing at a residence of an attorney who had defended the protesters of segregated lunch counters, there was a march in Nashville to demand the end of racial segregation. Several thousand people had joined the march to city hall. When Mayor Ben West tried to appease the crowd with generalizations and colorful meaningless words, Nash stood firm and boldly challenged the Mayor to end discrimination, specifically if his words meant the segregated lunch counters, and now. West, trying to say that it was really up to the store managers, backed down. The time was now. He had not expected the force that was Diane Nash or ultimately, the power of doing the right thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment