Who were the Freedom Riders?

• A. Local police enforcing segregation
• B. Civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated South
• C. Civil rights leaders who organized voter registration drives only in the North
• D. Students who protested only at universities

Answer: (B)

Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated South to challenge and desegregate public transportation. Organized by groups like CORE (and later involving SNCC), these mixed‑race teams traveled through the Deep South to test compliance with Supreme Court rulings that segregation in interstate travel and in bus stations was unconstitutional. They faced violent opposition, drew national attention, and helped spur federal enforcement that advanced desegregation of interstate travel. Their actions aren’t about local police enforcing segregation, northern voter drives, or campus protests alone—the defining move was coordinated cross‑state bus rides aimed at overturning segregation in interstate facilities.