Which organization organized the Freedom Rides in 1961?

• A. NAACP
• B. CORE
• C. SCLC
• D. ACLU

Answer: (B)

The Freedom Rides in 1961 were organized by CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality. CORE was a group formed to pursue nonviolent, direct-action strategies to end segregation in public accommodations and interstate travel. The rides were designed to test compliance with Supreme Court rulings that segregation in interstate facilities was unconstitutional, so CORE coordinated mixed-race teams to ride buses into the South and sit where segregation laws dictated they could not. The approach drew national attention and helped spur federal enforcement of desegregation. While other organizations played important roles in the broader civil rights movement—such as the NAACP focusing on legal challenges, the SCLC leading large-scale nonviolent protests, and the ACLU defending civil liberties—CORE specifically organized the Freedom Rides themselves.