Tuesday, November 22, 2011

"Ain't Scared of Your Jails"

What stuck out to me the most in "Ain't Scared of Your Jails" was the level of dedication that the Freedom Riders had. Even after people were beaten and hospitalized, more and more kept coming. Even when they were refused protection (at first). All of the riders took the risk that they could be beaten to death, or brutalized, by an angry mob at any one of the stops. All of the riders had extreme courage that I'm not sure I would have had. I don't know if I would have had the guts to join the Freedom Rides myself, even if I would have had the chance.
I was also impressed by what the mayor said after protesters marched to his office and asked him questions. "I could not agree that it is morally right to refuse to sell something to someone purely based on race." It took a lot of guts for the mayor to say this, especially when he had not been very supportive of the protests before. It was a major turning point in the restaurant lunch counter protests.

1 comment:

  1. The mayor of Nashville helped in a small part intergrate Nashville starting with the lunch counters. This was a turning point in the civil rights movement.

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