Busses Quotes

The South was segregated at the time and Negroes were required by law to sit in the back of the busses. There were no seats left in the back and Ms. Parks sat in the “white” section causing her to be arrested. That act ignited public opinion, led to Black boycotts of segregated busses, and morphed into the civil rights movement.

At that time the law prohibited Negroes from sitting anywhere in a public bus except the rear. Blacks, if there were not enough rear seats had to stand in the back even if there were many vacant seats in the “white section” of the bus. This was typical of the racial discrimination that existed at that time. That is what all the civil rights demonstrations and boycotts of that era was all about—eliminating government discrimination against Blacks. The Federal Courts including the Supreme Court ruled that the bus segregation was unconstitutional, and the awful practice ended in Montgomery.

Freedom Rides were interracial groups of Civil Rights advocates who boarded public interstate busses in Washington and rode South through some of the most segregated communities in the country. As the bus stopped at the segregated rest stops, the Black Freedom Riders would use the “white” waiting rooms, toilets, and other facilities which was against the local custom and law. Racist segregationists often brutalized and assaulted the Freedom riders whose leaders demanded Federal Protection. The Attorney General and others were trying to get the local politicians and law enforcement officials to protect the Freedom Riders, but often these were the worst of the racist segregationists. Kennedy thought if he could have a “cooling off period” for a few days, he could persuade the locals to protect the Freedom Riders from the mobs with the threat of sending Federal Marshalls or troops for the protection. So he asked Farmer and other Freedom Ride organizers to stop the Freedom Rides for a few days. This was Farmer’s famous response. The Freedom Rides continued and forced the Federal Government to respond on a timetable they did not prefer.