freedom ride

(noun)

Any one of a number of bus trips through parts of the southern U. S. in the 1960s, made by groups of civil rights activists demonstrating their opposition to racial prejudice and segregation.

Related Terms

Examples of freedom ride in the following topics:

  • Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides

    • Sit-ins and Freedom Rides were nonviolent civil rights actions used to challenge segregation and racial discrimination.
    • Students also took part in the 1961 “freedom rides” organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
    • The first Freedom Ride of the 1960s left Washington D.C. on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17.
    • Freedom rides were stopped and beaten by mobs in Montgomery, leading to the dispatch of the Alabama National Guard to stop the violence.
    • Despite being faced with severe violence, the freedom rides made an impact. 

  • Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement

    • Board of Education decision in 1954, civil rights organization broadened their strategy to emphasize "direct action"—primarily boycotts, sit-ins, Freedom Rides, marches and similar tactics that relied on mass mobilization, nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience.
    • The student sit-ins protesting segregated lunch counters (1960); the Freedom Rides (1961) in which activists attempted to integrate bus terminals, restrooms, and water fountains; voter registration drives; and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963), in which civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

  • The Flowering of Black Freedom Struggle

    • During the 1960s the black freedom struggle included the 1963 March on Washington, the 1964 Freedom Summer, and the 1965 March in Selma.
    • It played a major role in organizing sit-ins and freedom rides, the 1963 March on Washington, the Mississippi Freedom Summer, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party over the next few years.
    • Though Freedom Summer failed to register many voters, it significantly effected the course of the Civil Rights Movement.
    • On June 21, 1964, the Freedom Summer got national attention when three civil rights workers disappeared .
    • In addition to the March on Washington, the black freedom struggle flourished through campaigns for voter registration.

  • Federal Intervention

    • Robert Kennedy played a large role in the Freedom Riders protests.
    • He also forced the Greyhound bus company to provide the Freedom Riders with a bus driver to ensure they could continue their journey.
    • While Kennedy offered protection to the Freedom Riders, he also attempted to convince them to end the Rides.
    • Kennedy's attempts to end the Freedom Rides early were in many ways tied to broader international issues and an upcoming summit with Khrushchev and De Gaulle; he believed the continued international publicity of race riots would tarnish the president heading into international negotiations.
    • This reluctance to advance and continue to protect the Freedom Rides alienated many of the Civil Rights leaders at the time who perceived him as intolerant and narrow-minded.

  • Conclusion: Change in the 1960s

    • Civil rights activists engaged in sit-ins, freedom rides, and protest marches, and registered African American voters.
    • During the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (a), a huge crowd gathered on the National Mall (b) to hear the speakers.

  • Administration of the Inca Empire

    • Some of the privileges kurakas enjoyed included: exemption from taxation, the right to ride in a litter, and the freedom to practice polygamy.

  • Slavery and Liberty

    • Freedom for slaves could only be obtained through manumission by their owner, or through dangerous escape.
    • In the early nineteenth century, a variety of organizations were founded that advocated moving black people from the United States to locations where they would enjoy greater freedom.
    • While slaveholders opposed freedom for blacks, they saw "repatriation" as a way of avoiding rebellions.
    • A Ride for Liberty – The Fugitive Slaves by Eastman Johnson
    • Many slaves fled through the Underground Railroad, seeking freedom in the North.

  • Reasoning

    • It is also closely identified with the ability to self-consciously change beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and institutions, and therefore indicates the capacity for freedom and self-determination.
    • An example of this would be observing that a child is not riding on a specific amusement park ride, and abducing that the child must not be old enough to ride, as other children of similar age are not on the ride either.

  • Fostering Innovation

    • Offering employees challenges, freedom, resources, encouragement, and support can help them to innovate.
    • Encourage employees to take advantage of coffee breaks, lunch breaks, and taxi rides.

  • Religious Freedom

    • Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.
    • Freedom of religion is considered by many nations to be a fundamental human right.
    • The United States formally considers religious freedom in its foreign relations.
    • The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 established the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which investigates the records of over 200 other nations with respect to religious freedom, and makes recommendations to submit nations with egregious records to ongoing scrutiny and possible economic sanctions.
    • Illustrate the principle of "religious freedom" in the United States to different scenarios