I was born in New York City, grew up in LA, and have lived most of my life on the Oregon Coast. When I was 18 years old I joined a Freedom Ride, the only one that ever went to Texas. When we arrived in Houston we joined up with local black students in a sit-in at the Houston train station. Some of these students had already been arrested half a dozen times or more, this was our first arrest. The charge was “Unlawful Assembly”.

At the Harris County jail we were segregated by race and sex into four groups. The white male Freedom Riders were put in a cellblock with over 100 white Texans, and they were not a bit glad to see us. They called us “nigger lovers”. The guards had told these prisoners that they would have a free hand to mistreat us, and that night the guards looked the other way while we were beaten on and off for hours.

Meanwhile in the white women’s cellblock the prisoners already there had gotten the same message from the guards, but were divided on whether to beat the Freedom Riders, or not. There was quite a debate, and in the end a vote was taken and by a slim margin the majority decided not to beat the Freedom Riders. Apparently women believe in Democracy.

In the black men’s cellblock the Freedom Riders were welcomed, but there were a few sociopathic prisoners who were used to taking out their aggressions on any new inmates, however the other black prisoners defended the Freedom Riders from attack.

The black female Freedom Riders were greeted by the prisoners in the women’s cellblock like the heroes they actually were and treated like royalty.

I think this is interesting because in American society, then and now, there is what I call a “totem pole of privilege”. You’ve heard the term “low man on the totem pole”, I think you know what that means. In America the white man enjoys special privilege, he’s at the top of the totem pole. Next comes the white woman, then the black man, and then on the bottom, low man on the totem pole so to speak, is of course the black woman, who faces discrimination and unequal treatment on the basis of both race and sex. 

It could be argued that as a result of many long and bitter struggles, including the Freedom Rides of 60 years ago, that the inequities of privilege have narrowed, that things are better today, but I think that few would argue that any group on the totem pole of privileged has shifted places yet.

But in the Harris County jail on August 11, 1961 the totem pole got turned on its head. The best treatment went to the black women, the black men did okay, the white women escaped mistreatment by a narrow vote, and I got my ass kicked. How about that for an interesting reversal of American racism, misogyny and white privilege?

Another jailhouse adventure of ours happened because Freedom Rider Ellen — 19 years old from Los Angeles — was of Jewish heritage and her olive skin color confused the racists who ran the Harris County jail. When she was booked Ellen had refused as a matter of principle to declare her race, and so they had to try and figure out themselves where to house her. There were two choices: black or white? It was a black-and-white issue.

They finally decided just to be on the safe side they would put her in the black women’s cellblock. This weighty decision took them a while, and meanwhile the other white female freedom riders didn’t know what had happened to Ellen and began to worry. When they finally questioned the guards as to her whereabouts, Ellen got moved from the black women’s quarters where she was getting special treatment to the white women’s section where things were a little more tense.

The point is not that the totem pole should be turned upside down — we need to get rid of the totem pole. We need to build a country where all people, men and women, are treated equally under the law, with equal access to good jobs, decent housing, quality education, and most importantly we need to make it possible, we need to make it easy for everyone to vote.

The Freedom Rides helped to end legal segregation. The next battle in the civil rights movement of the 1960s was the fight to end racial discrimination in voting, culminating in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But today, in 2022, legislators in dozens of states have enacted laws that will make it harder to vote, especially for racial minorities, students, and the elderly.

People who do not vote are just not on the radar. Their rights are not respected, their interests are not represented, and their wishes are ignored. No matter what their sex or color, they will always be “low man on the totem pole”. Some of the wins of the 1960s are under attack and being reversed today. The road to freedom is right in front of us; who’s going to step out next?