On May 4, 1961, the first Freedom Riders left Washington D.C. and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17. Freedom rides were meant to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court's decision in the Morgan vs. Virginia case which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.

The Freedom Riders faced many obstacles such as people beating them up with baseball bats, bicycle chains, or iron pipes. They were also threatened and were verbally harassed. They faced these situations by staying calm and taking the beatings to gain awareness and to get the government to enforce the law.

George Raymond Jr. was a core activist who was arrested in the Trail ways bus terminal in Jackson, Mississippi. He was arrested for his participation in the Freedom Rides. He worded hard to promote voter registrations but died to a heart attack in 1973 from a heart attack at age thirty.

Freedom rides impacted today by making the society less segregated. People wouldn't be helping other colors or they'd be keeping them out of their stores if the Freedom Rides didn't help the movement. But there are things that aren't different and ARE like Freedom rides such as people hating on Muslims because of how they're "terrorist" or "bombers". Freedom riders and Muslims are both fighting for equal rights and they don't want to be segregated.