Freedom Riders

This documentary might be in my top five of documentaries I have ever watched. The first hand accounts, live footage, and thoughtfulness that went into creating this project helps to land it in my favorites. There are several quotes from this video that I believe are noteworthy and could bring about great discussion in class: "You cannot change a way of life over night, the more they try to force into doing something, the worse the reaction will be."; "To dare the federal government to do what they are supposed to do and see if their constitutional rights would be protected."; "We cannot lose unless we allow ourselves to be so divided and lose a sense of direction and common purpose."; "many people in the movement think that what you are doing may do more harm than good"; "these people are going from town to town and getting off the bus, and seeking through mixed groups of Negro men and white women to force themselves into situations that tend to inflame local people, in such a manner to incite them into local acts of violence. thats what they are doing here."; and "we are past fear, we can't stop. If one person falls, another takes their place.".
Although most of these quotes are about specific aspects of the Freedom Rides that took place, there is a universal theme that the Freedom Riders needed to continue to gain the national attention that this movement needed. Young African-Americans were willing to risk their lives for the 'greater good' as the Kennedy administration took a backseat in reacting to the movements. As the Freedom Riders garnered international attention, with the government looking bad as they failed to do anything, the administration begins to act. This leads me to the question that if it had not gained this kind of attention that showed them in a bad light, would the Kennedy administration have looked the other way?
Another idea I have had while watching this documentary was the idea of Dubois' Talented Tenth as some of the first hand accounts talked about how they had to in essence drop out of classes in order to pursue freedom and justice on the Freedom Riders. This makes me think should it have been young people giving up their lives for this? The first-generation college students whom have finally been able to attend schooling to fight for this cause? One woman said that it wasn't like anyone asked her or others to join the freedom rides, but it was as if a wind had pushed her in that direction and she knew this is what she needed to do.

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