Bobby Kennedy's Freedom Riders: The Student Leader

The year African American and white civil rights activists rode together on a bus was only 55 years ago (Freedom Riders). I find it a little difficult to swallow that this occurred in my mother’s life time, only twenty years before I was born. She was born 1961, which is the year this event occurred. The event was to challenge segregation.
According to the video “Freedom Riders: The Governor”, Alabama Governor John Patterson, did not put up with freedom riders and would defend the Alabama way of life. He did not want to do “what should have been done”. Bobby Kennedy was on side of freedom riders, he demanded the freedom riders had free passage. The Kennedy brothers were shocked, when their political ale (John Patterson) would not take their
call. He would not honor Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s request to ensure the safety of the Freedom Riders. Patterson exclaims in the video that he should have taken call, and every day he regrets the decision he made. He stated, it really did not affect him that much because he did not get reelected anyway. However, it has haunted ever since. He exclaims he should have done what needed to be done (Freedom Riders: The Governor).
Diane Nash from Chicago, Il., was a student at Fisk University (Freedom Riders: The Student Leader).
She eventually became the leader for the Nashville Student Movement. She was not just a pretty girl; she was deeply rooted in non-violence. The school would not serve black people in the cafeteria. Restrooms, pop machines, stores, cars, smoking areas were all separated. This is something she did not see in Chicago, and she was deeply disturbed. It was stated in the video, Diane was one of the most active students, always planning and looking ahead. Always asked the right questions. Diane stated, “I asked him, first of all, Mayor West, do you feel that is wrong to discriminate against a person solely on the bases of the race of color.” Mayor West stated, “I could not agree that is was morally right for someone to sale the merchandise and refuse service.” Diane replied, “I think we were very pleased with the mayor at that moment, and we all applauded” (Freedom Riders: The Student Leader). The Nashville group was very committed to desegregation. When the bombing of the bus occurred, felt like it was an attack on them. Had to make certain freedom riders continued even though there was a good possibility of people getting injured (Freedom Riders: The Student Leader).
This is only a small portion of what when on during this movement. So many segregations, so many fights and losses. We have come a long way from slavery and segregation, but I often wonder if we have come far enough. The freedom riders fought for their rights, as did many other blacks during this time. We may no longer have separate restrooms, entrances or vehicles but has segregation really
stopped?
Hurricane Katrina demolished the lower 9th in 2005. Tour buses were no longer allowed to enter the lower 9th, because people did not want to see the tragedy that happened (Lower 9 + 10). The young lady had reported, people wanted to feel sorry for the occurrence, but did not want to witness it first-hand. During an interview with an older black man, Kirk Washington, he exclaimed the lower 9th was supposed to be turned into a park area instead of rebuilding the homes (Lower 9 + 10). He had to move away from Orlando after the hurricane, but returned 10 years later. Washington wanted to return back to his home town, which was the better part of the lower 9th. He noticed people did not have the necessities to live properly, so he built a cafe (not having any previous experience with food). He slowly added other necessities to help the community, including rooms to rent cheaply. He had said, the population was less than half of what it was before (Lower 9 + 10).
This situation is a perfect example of segregation between the white and black community that is still happening in today’s society. It is not merely that the people in the lower 9th district are black, but that they are also of lower class. This is another form of segregation. I say segregation occurs in today’s society as well because when Sister Jenny Howard and her co-workers ate lunch at Denny’s they were placed in the back of the restaurant; because her three co-workers were black. I do not understand why there are so many hate groups, why segregation still happens and why we must treat other people with disrespect. I understand it is how we are raised, how we are taught and what we learn in school. Can one person make a difference on this matter? I try to teach my children not to judge by book by its cover or color to say the least. A question I keep asking is, how long will it take before America will become a country of true “happiness” and true “freedom”? Will my children make a difference? I do not ask about the world, because asking about America is broad enough and will probably never be answered.