The Freedom Riders

The Freedom Riders were a group of Civil Rights Activists who traveled in a series of bus trips throughout the South during the 1960's.  The CORE, or the Congress of Racial Equality, established in 1942, who fought for the rights of minorities, worked with the Freedom Riders in an attempt to desegregate the south.  The Freedom Riders defied segregation by using bathrooms and restaurant counters, that were labeled white only. The freedom riders received an incredible amount of violence from whites while traveling southern.  Although they faced little suppression in Virginia, with some violence and arrests from South Carolina, which later culminated in violence in Birmingham Alabama. A group of Ku Kulx Klan members attacked a Freedom Rider bus, slashing its tires and firebombing it. They held the door closed, trying to burn the riders inside, and beat them after they were able to escape. Despite warnings from Rob Kennedy, who opposed the riders from continuing, after hearing of the violence, the riders continued to Alabama, where they were met with mobs and many were arrested.
Below: The Freedom Riders in their bus
http://mdah.state.ms.us/freedom/