On Mother’s Day, 1961, activists rode on Greyhound buses through the South to fight segregation on public transportation, which was ruled unconstitutional the previous year. But the KKK and Alabama’s pro-segregationist government conspired to violently stop these Freedom Riders’ protest.
With the desire burning hot to uphold the racial hierarchy, Birmingham’s police commissioner and police sergeant conspired to give a mob of racist whites free reign to attack the bus for 15 minutes uninterrupted. And attack they did.
Still dressed in their Sunday’s best, the mob first attacked in Anniston. They slashed the bus’ tires and threw a firebomb, hoping to blow the Riders to smithereens.
Before being burned alive, they ran off the bus, and the KKK brutally went to town. Many Riders were hospitalized. Many others narrowly escaped lynching. But the violence was far from over.
Refusing to give up their campaign, the Riders continued on into Birmingham the next day. The KKK was waiting, armed with bats, pipes, and bicycle chains. But the Freedom Riders’ bravery caught the national eye, and soon the world knew the gross violence Black America faced - simply for using our constitutional right to ride the bus.
Inspired by these brave Freedom Riders, more activists risked their lives to take Freedom Rides that year. Because no matter how violent it may be, we must never flinch in the face of white supremacy.