This article reports on Bayard Rustin’s 1947 arrest in Chapel Hill while participating in the Journey of Reconciliation, an early civil rights action challenging segregation on interstate buses. The coverage highlights Rustin’s unwavering commitment to nonviolent direct action and the personal sacrifices he endured for racial equality.
The Journey of Reconciliation was a groundbreaking direct-action campaign that challenged not only the framework but also the entrenched social and political resistance to desegregation in the South. Despite existing laws, local authorities actively enforced segregation through arrests and intimidation, aiming to maintain white supremacy. Participants, including Rustin, deliberately faced arrest to expose the systemic injustice and galvanize public awareness. This campaign marked a critical early use of nonviolence civil disobedience to confront racial segregation, influencing subsequent mass movements for civil rights.
“Socialists Jailed in Carolina Jim Crow Test.” Newspaper report, May 28, 1947. NewsBank. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.princeton.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=&sort=YMD_date%3AA&hide_duplicates=2&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=60&val-base-0=%22bayard%20rustin%22%20and%20%22Congress%20of%20Racial%20Equality%22&docref=image/v2%3A1360DB98DA02B07A%40WHNPX-136426F6DF11F6D8%402432334-13641969F967F028%407-1376F024FADF8836%40Socialists%2BJailed%2BIn%2BCarolina%2BJim%2BCrow%2BTest.
