CORE and the SNCC
CORE: Congress of Racial Equality
SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
In 1961, CORE undertook a new tactic aimed at desegregating public transportation throughout the south. CORE put the freedom riders through intensive training. The riders studied and discussed the concept of nonviolent protest. They understood that they might be beaten and brutally attacked. "When we began the ride I think all of us were prepared for as much violence as could be thrown at us. We prepared for the possibility of death." said Farmer. They learned how to protect themselves while not fighting back. They tried to prepare themselves for anything that might happen. Many freedom riders even wrote out their wills, unsure of what could happen. An estimated 300 freedom riders participated in the rides overall.
After the freedom riders experienced a large amount of mob violence in Alabama, this convinced CORE to call them off. But the SNCC decided to continue them after that. They wanted to avoid the impression "that whenever a movement starts, all you have to do is attack it with massive violence and the blacks will stop."
SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
In 1961, CORE undertook a new tactic aimed at desegregating public transportation throughout the south. CORE put the freedom riders through intensive training. The riders studied and discussed the concept of nonviolent protest. They understood that they might be beaten and brutally attacked. "When we began the ride I think all of us were prepared for as much violence as could be thrown at us. We prepared for the possibility of death." said Farmer. They learned how to protect themselves while not fighting back. They tried to prepare themselves for anything that might happen. Many freedom riders even wrote out their wills, unsure of what could happen. An estimated 300 freedom riders participated in the rides overall.
After the freedom riders experienced a large amount of mob violence in Alabama, this convinced CORE to call them off. But the SNCC decided to continue them after that. They wanted to avoid the impression "that whenever a movement starts, all you have to do is attack it with massive violence and the blacks will stop."