A Look at the Freedom Rides of the Civil Rights Movement

The freedom rides of the Civil Rights movement was an assertive movement that served as a symbolic sign of peaceful protest that swept across the nation. The defiance captured within the original movement in light of open racial hostility rallied for the heart of the nation against an innate sense of injustice. The rides themselves were punishable acts under certain the segregation laws of certain states. Public attention that was won through this open act of civil disobedience capitalized upon a nation that was ready to address change. I think its important to bear in mind that the majority of the nation was not affected by the segregative laws of the South where Jim Crow prohibited what were seemingly universal rights of all people elsewhere.

The immigrant worker's freedom ride was historic in its endeavor to address an issue to a nation of opportunity that has willingly turned a blind eye to the cause. Through this public spectacle, the modern freedom ride was to highlight the injustice being done to one's neighbor - the inability of an immigrant to retain the rights of a citizen and resultingly suffer under harsher conditions because of legal status. Organized by the AFL-CIO, the busses rolled out with the intention of sweeping across the nation in a visual statement to gain public attention for immigrant workers everywhere.

In terms of its success, I think the most obvious result of the symbolic movement is derived from the political gain that was achieved. The ability to personally meet legislative officials is never a lost cause in regards to providing more pressure for issues already on the political agenda. Any subsequent action in favor of expressing immigrant rights may very well have been contributed by the modern day freedom ride movement. The very fact that a huge group gathered outside of the capital ought to bring about some political sway in terms of issue awareness on Capital Hill.