Freedom Riders

After watching this documentary, "Freedom Riders", it made me realize even more of how horribly African American were treating in the 1900's. A group of people, white and black, had the idea to travel on a greyhound bus through the deepest parts of the southern states to try and make a change to segregation, all while knowing that their lives would be in danger at all times throughout it. This shows me and i'm sure every other viewer how brave these people really were. They had coffee thrown on them, got beaten with bats, and nearly were killed in the bus when it was lit on fire by the mobs. While I was watching all of that, I asked myself if I would be able to take all of the violence and beatings while not being able to react to it. I honestly don't think I could do it. Then to think that there were college students, just like myself, volunteering to finish the freedom ride blows my mind. When the young lady said that they had all signed their wills the night before they left knowing that their lives could end while on this trip, made me respect them even more. The incident that stood out to me the most was when Bull Conner allowed to Ku Klux Klan to do whatever they wanted these people on the buses for 15 minutes without getting in trouble by police. This was so eye opening to me because it showed that not only were white civilians the problem of discrimination, but the leaders of our country and states were involved in the problem as well. The FBI knew what was going on while these people were trying to kill every person on the bus, and not a thing was done to prevent it. This is a perfect example of how oblivious people were to try and make a change towards racism in the 1900's. I was never taught about these kinds of events in high school, so watching this and learning more about it now definitely makes me fully realize the horrible effect white people had on African American lives.

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