Jim Zwerg (1939- ) was a white American civil rights activist who in 1961 took part in the protests in Nashville and the Freedom Rides.
The Freedom Riders rode buses in the South to test the new civil rights laws. The first two buses left Washington, DC on May 4th 1961. Ten days later both ended in Klan violence in Alabama, one at Anniston, the other at Birmingham.
John Lewis and Diane Nash, two of the leaders of the student movement in Nashville, knew that if the Freedom Rides died, the Klan would win. Jim Crow would grow stronger. They picked ten of their own to continue the rides. Jim Zwerg was one of them.
Zwerg was an exchange student at Fisk, a black university in Nashville. He met John Lewis a few days after he arrived. Both were studying to become Christian ministers.
On Saturday, May 20th the new Freedom Riders took the bus from Birmingham to Montgomery, Alabama. A thousand whites came out to greet the bus at Montgomery. Zwerg:
You could see baseball bats; you could see ropes; you could see pieces of chain. You knew why they were there… And you knew it was very soon going to happen. At that moment… I bowed my head, and I prayed. And I asked God to give me the strength to be nonviolent. I asked God to forgive them for whatever they might do. And I asked him to be with me.
Never in his life had he felt such peace. Then he walked off the bus, the first one.
People cried “Get the nigger lover”. They knocked him down, kicked him in the back, stepped on his face. He blacked out. They continued hitting him in the face and kicking his body on the ground. Women hit him with their handbags. The whites hated him more than they did the blacks, giving many of the black Freedom Riders a chance to escape.
As it turns out most of the whites were Klan. The police had made a deal with them to wait ten minutes before stepping in. As it was it took tear gas to stop the violence.
Zwerg lay knocked out and wounded at the bus station. For two hours. No white ambulance would take him. At last the police drove him to the hospital and got him help.
Half his teeth were broken. So was his thumb and his nose. Worst of all, three bones in his back were cracked. He would have back pain for the rest of his life.
He made the news. On television from coast to coast he told the country from his hospital bed:
Segregation must be stopped. It must be broken down. We’re going on to New Orleans no matter what. We’re dedicated to this. We’ll take hitting. We’ll take beating. We’re willing to accept death.
After that people from all walks of life, young and old, north and south, joined the Freedom Rides. Now they became unstoppable.
See also:
- Mother’s Day in Anniston – just six days before
- Hank Thomas – a black Freedom Rider
- white allies:
- Tim Wise
- John Brown – like Zwerg, he was a Congregationalist who took religion seriously.
- William Wilberforce
- Jim Crow
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Brilliant, Abagond.
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Thank you.
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Abagond, I’m so happy that you posted on this young man!
There were many people who were freedom fighters in the Civil Rights movement–whites were there too!
And we ought to acknowledge that in this time of talking about white privilege. Some handed over that privilege in the Civil Rights movement and suffered the same hatred!! Maybe even worse in the critical moments.
Hatred is just hatred, seeking something to hate. If America had no black people then hateful folks would find others to hate.
So sad.
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We also need to stress, however, that whites like Zwerg are a tiny minority, and considered “abnormal” in white America.
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A real hero, no question about it.
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Well, some whites do not like racism. Some will even put themselves on the line for that belief. At that time at that place it took some guts. Guys like these are neede today too in USA.
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As long as we’re remembering the victims of violence perpetrated by racist brutes, it might be appropriate to mention Brad Heyka, Heather Muller, Aaron Sander, and Jason Befort. May they rest in peace.
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Of course, the whites who participated in lynch-mob violence during the 1960s were only a “tiny minority”, too.
Interesting how one small minority becomes paradigmatic of all white people while another one can be hand-waved away as insignificant.
Thousands of white people actively supported civil rights. Millions more passively sat at home and cheered them on. Zwerg is no less – or more – “typically white” than the Birmingham church bomber.
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Every country, every society needs people like Zwerg, and lots of them. Also where racism is not (yet) as rampant as in the US.
Not without irony is that the name Zwerg is German for dwarf. He certainly is a giant in many aspects.
The Freedom Riders actually remind me of the White Rose in n@zi Germany. The only difference is that the Freedom Riders didn’t risk their lives by directly opposing the government. They risked their lives opposing a collective of private individuals by doing what was their right. (I was shaking my head while I typed the previous phrase).
Streets, squares, buildings etc should be named after them. It is beyond me that so many Americans are prouder of their destructive efforts, aka wars, than of the constructive ones. There seems to be some sort of embarrassment or even despise for non-violent resistance, especially when it comes to racism. Why otherwise would they make efforts to keep them out of the media and literature? And when the mainstream mention them it comes across rather as vain and cynical – “look, rest of the world, isn’t our freedom of speech a wonderful thing? We also had our civil rights heroes and WE did not execute them…” (although I bet the majority would have been in favour).
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Thad is right in this case.
If you give credit for one person who truly helped out, you gotta give credit to ALL who truly helped out!
@ Femi
Hey, we like to see things go “BOOM!” Humans in general like to destroy rather than construct…it’s easier to do. However, if ALL humanity were like that, we wouldn’t have any of the things we take for granted today. Straight up.
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[…] Jim Zwerg, for example. He was a white college student who knew he’d be targeted as a “race traitor” […]
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this is beautiful, Abagond. the message, that is. It is attrocious what those cruel, foul, hateful, hellbound people did to them. Thank you for bringing this honorable, courageous and brave young man to the forefront of our thoughts. I didn’t know he existed, but i’m glad i do now! 😀
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[…] Jim Zwerg, Civil Rights Activist, Photo was taken after a mob attack in Montgomery, AL in May, 1961 […]
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Didn’t know about this gentleman but God bless him and the few handful of whites who participated in the civil rights protests.
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God bless him. A real hero.
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[…] Jim Zwerg […]
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