What were the Freedom Rides, and why were they conducted? What did they accomplish?

The Freedom Rides were a series of bus trips through the American South in 1961 to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals. The Freedom Riders, both black and white, rode buses into the segregated Southern United States to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.

The Rides were conducted by civil rights activists from both the North and the South. They would board buses destined for the Deep South, with the intention of using “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters at the bus terminals. They faced tremendous violence and opposition from segregationists, who attacked both the riders and the buses.

Despite the danger and resistance, the Freedom Rides were successful in bringing national attention to the struggle against Jim Crow laws in the South. The rides also put pressure on the federal government to enforce civil rights legislation.

By the close of 1961, the Freedom Rides had resulted in the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) issuing regulations prohibiting segregation in interstate transit terminals, thereby achieving one of the core aims of the activists. They were also instrumental in building the momentum toward the subsequent Civil Rights campaigns and legislation that would follow in the 1960s.