1961+Freedom+Rides

Home TIMELINE TOPICS ASSIGNMENT: Who Is A Person In America?

1961 Freedom Rides Brian M. Place photos or graphics in the table below. Save to desktop, then upload by clicking on "file" on the menu bar (above). A bus carrying civil rights "freedom riders" is fire-bombed during a caravan to advocate black voting rights in 1961. The freedom riders were civil rights advocates, both black and white, who traveled to the South as volunteers for the Congress of Racial Equality. (Library of Congress) || One unidentified man sits in front of a Greyhound bus to prevent it from leaving the station with its load of Freedom Riders. (AP Images) ||
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Write a journal/newspaper style article in which you take a neutral stance (as a reporter) and give the facts about the actual event. What led up to the event? What happened during the actual event? Did it have an “end” or is it unresolved? You are to write about this event __when it happened__, you are assuming the role of a reporter in 1850, 1920, etc., __not someone looking back from 2011__. You need to cite your sources, and they must include information only available during that time period. At least one source must be primary and/or an eyewitness account. **Important - This work will be submitted to TurnItIn.com. We will provide you information about using this helpful resource**!
 * TASK I: **

Freedom Riders Firebombed As buses all across the South are met by violent mobs, many wonder what the government is doing about it. By Brian Moser May 10, 1961

ATLANTA-It seems that wherever people look in the South, buses full of “Freedom Riders” are being attacked by vicious mobs of anti-black activists. The most recent and dangerous episode of violence occurred in Anniston, Alabama, where a “Greyhound bus faced two hundred angry whites… [and] a firebomb was tossed into the bus” (Graham). Several injuries were reported.

The Freedom Rider movement was sparked by last year’s “Boynton v. Virginia Supreme Court judgment that banned segregation in bus and train terminals” (Graham). Tom Gaither and Gordon Carvey, field secretaries of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), sent the Riders on their mission in order to “ test specifically President John F. Kennedy's commitment to enforce two Supreme Court decisions banning segregated interstate travel” (Tondeur).

Their journey from Washington D.C. to New Orleans has so far been met with increasingly violent resistance from Ku Klux Klansmen and other white people. Attacks on the Riders have been carried out with metal pipes and other improvised weapons. Rumors of possible police escorts and protection are leaving many hopeful that the violence will end, but many are skeptical that the government will carry out their promises.

W.C.

Graham, Jessica L. "Freedom Rides." //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Cengage

Learning, 2006. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/

Tondeur, Cristy Casado. "Freedom Rides." //Issues: Understanding Controversy and//

//Society//. ABC-CLIO, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2011.<http://issues.abc-clio.com/ Task 1: Mastery Rubric A quality news article will: •open with an attention-grabbing headline •identify the author's name and the date of the publication (in the past) •develop the 5 W's in three power paragraphs •paragraph 1: contain an interesting lead •paragraph 2: correctly cite a secondary source (an indirect quote) •paragraph 3 : correctly cite a primary source (eyewitness account) •maintain appropriate journalistic voice •read like an article written in the same time period as the event occurred •be free of mechanics and Works Cited errors

TASK II What is the Argument?

A Supreme Court case (Morgan v. State of Virginia) had a ruling that banned segregation on interstate busing and transportation; many white people, including government officials, decided that they would not uphold this law and arrested blacks for "infringing" on White People's privileges.

PROMPT 1: Why did the majority of Americans not recognize the rights of members of this group?

Segregation and racism in the South has existed since before the times of Slavery; one prevalent method of segregation was on buses. Black people were prohibited from using buses that white people were on and even when they were allowed to use the buses they had to sit at the back; however, an interstate commerce clause in the United States Constitution banned segregation on interstate busing. The Supreme Court case Morgan v. Virgina was a perfect example of segregation on busing; According to FindLaw, an online provider of legal information, the defendant was in violation of "an act of Virginia, which requires all passenger motor vehicle carriers, both interstate and intrastate, to separate without discrimination the white and colored passengers in their motor buses so that contiguous seats will not be occupied by persons of different races at the same time". This law was directed at African Americans, based solely on the racism that was everywhere in the South; forbidding black people from being in the same seats as white people. Not only was there segregation on the buses themselves but there was segregation in the waiting terminals for the buses. According to FindLaw, this defendant was "violating a state statute making it a misdemeanor for any person "without authority of law" to remain upon the premises of another after having been forbidden to do so". This allowed any racist landowner to prohibit any black man from using his property or being on his land, keeping the rights of African Americans in the hands of others.

2. How did advocates shed light on this injustice

The Freedom Riders wanted to test the decisions of the Supreme Court. If the state governments were going to uphold the decisions, the Riders would recieve no resistance from police on their ride to New Orleans. According to FindLaw, in the Supreme Court case Morgan v. Virginia, the court "attacked [the Virginia law] on the ground that it imposes undue burdens on interstate commerce. It is said by the Court of Appeals to have been passed in the exercise of the state's police power to avoid friction between the races. But this Court pointed out years ago 'that a state cannot avoid the operation of this rule by simply invoking the convenient apologetics of the police power'". The other Court decision that the Riders wanted to test was 1960's Boynton v. Virginia. The Supreme Court ruled that "It shall be unlawful for any common carrier by motor vehicle engaged in interstate or foreign commerce to make, give, or cause any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person . . . in any respect whatsoever; or to subject any particular person . . . to any unjust discrimination or any unjust or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever . . . .". While the Supreme Court gave these decisions, the state governments and police did not uphold them and the Freedom Riders were met with violent resistance from racist Southerners and from state police.

WC: Boynton v. State of Virginia. No. 7. Supreme Court of the US. 5 Dec. 1960.

//FindLaw//. Thomson Reuters, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.<http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com

Morgan v. State of Virginia. No. 704. Supreme Court of the US. 3 June 1946.

//FindLaw//. Thomson Reuters, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com

__Paragraph 1:__ Analyze the impact of the literary or artistic work for the minority group and/or American society as a whole.
 * TASK III: **

For thousands of years, music has been a widely used art form to express emotion and feelings toward any subject. Lyrics can have a heavy positive impact on the thoughts of people around the world. During the Civil Rights movement and beyond, music has been used to express the feelings of the black population of America to white people and others. The song "Freedom" has an anti-oppression theme and talks about civil rights. An lyric from the song is, "Freedom, Freedom, Freedom, Freedom, This is how we ride" (Paris). This shows that people remember the Freedom Rides and what they meant for everyone, even in this decade, almost half a century later. We, as Americans, still remember the brave commitment the Freedom Riders made to shedding light on the injustice of racism in America.

WC:

Paris. //Freedom (feat. Dead Prez & Public Enemy)//. Musical composition

__Paragraph 2:__ CLOSING-- How did the event impact the debate on the argument

The United States Supreme Court has the most judicial power of any court in America. Decisions made by Justices every day have a deep impact on how America's government works and how citizens treat each other; however, governments are free to obey these decisions however they want, even ignore them completely. This was unfortunately the case with busing in the early 1960s; two Supreme Court cases (Boynton v. Virginia & Morgan v. Virginia) were decided banning segregation in inter-state busing. The Freedom Riders, using inter-state buses to test government support for said Court decisions, were under the full protection of the law, yet the state and local governments treated the Riders as if they were criminals, jailing them and allowing hate groups to assault the Riders. These unlawful acts by the governments sparked outrage from the American people, forcing the Federal Government to command the lesser governments to uphold the decisions and allow free access to transportation to all people. An outstanding product will. •showcase a work that expresses a profound idea about your event and the argument surrounding it You need to include the lyrics for the entire song. This will give your reader a better appreciation for how the song is a reflection of this event. •be the **best** example available, not simply the first one you find •demonstrate your ability to interpret the meaning of the literary or artistic piece You make good points about music in general, but this would be stronger if it were more focused on this song. •use the extended power paragraph format as a means to express your understanding of the event, argument, and how art literature and art can reveal emotions and ideas •reference sources accurately •mechanics are clean and effective You say that state governments are "free to obey these decisions... even ignore them," but this really isn't true. While they may try to ignore them, this is a violation of law.
 * TASK III: Artistic Expression Element Rubric **

An outstanding time line entry includes the following: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">• Opens by identifying you, the author, and your event with a banner headline (see an example of a banner on the top of this page). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">• Under the banner, in the table place two graphics or photos that illustrates an important aspect of the event. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">• Thoughtful responses to each prompt are supported by credible sources representing diverse perspectives on the event. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">• Each response should be posted in order (follow template instructions), contain few mechanic errors and follow the power paragraph format. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; text-align: left;"> • The credibility of each cited source is established and internal citations accurately match the Works Cited.• TASK I and TASK II each introduce and cite two new sources; TASK III cites one new source.• The Works Cited lists 5 credible sources from the LC databases.
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