Journey of Reconciliation
Morgan's case inspired the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, during which 16 activists from the Chicago-based Congress of Racial Equality rode on interstate buses through the Upper South to test the enforcement of the Supreme Court's ruling. The activists divided themselves between Greyhound and Trailways bus lines and usually rode with an interracial pair in the white-area of the bus, with the other activists disguised as disinterested observers in the racial sections that applied to them. The group traveled uneventfully through Virginia, but once they reached North Carolina they encountered violence and arrests. By the end of the Journey, the protesters had conducted over 24 "tests" and endured 12 arrests and dangerous mob violence. Famous civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, in a flagrant violation of the Irene Morgan decision, was sentenced to 22 days on a chain gang in North Carolina for his participation in the Journey. The 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, far ahead of its time in its use of tactics of nonviolent direct action, inspired the highly publicized Freedom Rides of 1961, also organized by CORE.
Read more about this topic: Irene Morgan
Famous quotes containing the words journey of and/or journey:
“On a journey of a hundred miles, ninety is but half way.”
—Chinese proverb.
“The time passes so quickly during these full and active middle years that most people arrive at the end of middle age and the beginning of later maturity with surprise and a sense of having finished the journey while they were still preparing to commence it.”
—Robert Havighurst (20th century)