Which tactic did CORE help advance in the early civil rights era?

• A. Sit-ins
• B. Freedom Rides
• C. March on Washington
• D. Freedom Summer

Answer: (B)

CORE advanced the tactic of using organized, nonviolent direct action to challenge segregation on interstate travel, known as the Freedom Rides. This approach began with early efforts like the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947, a mixed-race group riding buses through the upper South to test desegregation rules. In 1961, CORE helped carry out cross-South rides to compel enforcement of Supreme Court rulings against segregation in interstate facilities. The rides drew national attention, exposed the brutality of segregation, and pressured the federal government to intervene, helping to move civil rights forward. While sit-ins were also a powerful tactic used by CORE and others, the distinctive, across-state challenge that CORE helped galvanize is the Freedom Rides. March on Washington and Freedom Summer were important actions as well, but they represent different forms of protest and organizing rather than this interstate, nonviolent ride strategy.