[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 89 (Monday, May 9, 2011)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 26925-26926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11488]



[[Page 26923]]

Vol. 76

Monday,

No. 89

May 9, 2011

Part V





The President





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Proclamation 8668--50th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides
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  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 89 / Monday, May 9, 2011 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 26925]]

                Proclamation 8668 of May 3, 2011

                
50th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Fifty years ago, America was struggling to implement 
                the ideals of justice and equality set forth in our 
                founding. The Freedom Rides, organized in the spring of 
                1961, were an interracial, nonviolent effort to protest 
                the practice of segregation. Setting out from 
                Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961, the Freedom Riders 
                sought to actualize the decision in Boynton v. 
                Virginia, which held that interstate passengers had a 
                right to be served without discrimination, and to 
                challenge the enforcement of local segregation laws and 
                practices.

                The Freedom Rides, organized by the Congress of Racial 
                Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating 
                Committee (SNCC), and other devoted advocates, built 
                upon the boycotts and sit-ins that were defying Jim 
                Crow segregation across the South. The Freedom Riders 
                themselves were black and white, often students and 
                young people, and committed to the cause of nonviolent 
                resistance. Along the way, buses were attacked and men 
                and women were intimidated, arrested, and brutally 
                beaten. The publicity generated by the courageous 
                Freedom Riders as they faced continued violence and 
                complicit local police drew the attention of the 
                Kennedy Administration and Americans across our 
                country.

                Through their defiant journeys, the Freedom Riders sent 
                a resounding message to the rest of our Nation that 
                desegregation was a moral imperative. The Freedom 
                Riders also motivated and mobilized the next generation 
                of civil rights leaders. The unflinching bravery and 
                unyielding commitment of the Freedom Riders inspired 
                many of those involved to become lifelong activists, 
                organizers, and leaders in the civil rights movement.

                Today, we remember the Freedom Riders for the 
                sacrifices they made in pursuit of the rights we now 
                enjoy. They showed that people working together across 
                backgrounds and boundaries could hold America 
                accountable to our highest ideals and bend the arc of 
                history towards justice. They showed that young people 
                have the power to generate a movement for equality and 
                steer the course of our Nation. Because of their 
                efforts, and the work of those who marched and stood 
                against injustice, we live in a country where all 
                Americans have the right to dream and choose their own 
                destiny.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim May 2011 as the 50th 
                Anniversary of the Freedom Rides. I call upon all 
                Americans to participate in ceremonies and activities 
                that honor the Freedom Riders and all those who 
                struggled for equal rights during the civil rights 
                movement.

[[Page 26926]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                third day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand 
                eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of 
                America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2011-11488
Filed 5-6-11; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3195-W1-P