A
civil rights campaign organized by the
Congress of Racial Equality and
SNCC in 1961. Groups of
interracial activists would ride
interstate buses into
Southern towns and try to enter
segregated bus stations. The
results were sometimes
violent with many of the riders being
beaten and
arrested by the local
police.
Stokely Carmichael was one of the freedom riders who was jailed for nearly two months. Ultimately, the
experiment was successful as the
violent reactions against
peaceful action brought national attention to the movement.
The second article of the Civil Rights Act (1964) made discrimination in public accomodations involved in interstate commerce illegal.