American Experience; Freedom Riders; Interview with Henry (Hank) Thomas, 3 of 4

as the seasons are as i'm getting up off the ground for five guys coming at me again and this is when i see the highway patrol and just standing there and he's got a standing to the side but between me and the schedule coming up and he doesn't appear that he's going to do anything so nothing king impulsively i decided to force the issue i got behind him and him getting behind him i'm stumbling i grabbed him and when i did that he grabbed his pistol and i'm going oh my god i've done it now you don't touch a white man and so and you certainly don't touch a white police officer he pulls his gun and was the biggest gun had ever seen and he fired a mere picture of foreigners coming here he says

okay writer for that show was stopped what stopped it now in the meantime talk about some of the two alabama security people wanted help a couple of the women off the bus there are pictures of him doing that by now the smoke is fully in the loans and everybody is really having trouble breathing i fell down because i'm just and double over a trial and agreed and there's a photograph of the police officer who's standing there i guess still protected me i'm also one of the other folks the story i learned afterwards governor paterson would not permit state troopers to give us any protection the head of that department was a he did not agree with that

approach he could not order his of a man to go but he came there to offer protection and it was hand pulled his gun and fart and kept the people bike off ox drama isn't over yet morose that we're having trouble breathing so there were white people on the bus so the analysts had been called in the state of alabama it is against the law for a white ambulance driver to give any assistance to a blind injured person so when they brought out the oxygen and they give them the oxygen to the white people they were given to us the white the fire departments because they need to put up before the bus until they also had oxygen and my friend that blank in it pressed a couple years ago so that i was having trouble breathing he took his

mask and gave it to me and you'll see the picture overall white polka low for him and said you can't do that and he just then they're bemused at the fact that i'm using that oxygen and to them the most important thing was they broke the law by giving it to blacks a black ambulance company was called and obviously the whites would not go into it with the white and most trouble because it would not take us so when the blight analyst for that fear it was against the law for him to take white people and we prevailed upon it and so we'd cut their will but to emmaus as nessa we all get into those animals and we went to the hospital it was over the crowd followed us to the hospital we got to the hospital in downtown amnesty we went into the emergency room the

white staff refused to treat us until we went around over into the color emergency section once again the y said you treat us all here you don't treat any of its and i mean we've all in bad shape so finally they agreed to do what they could for its start over here the crowd is now outside the hospital they're trying to get into the hospital and of course the hospital was locked its doors that telephone and said you either let those the neighbors in those middle of ours out and we gonna burn the hospital to hospital folks at jordan valley artist who were probably so they are an ammo and a pickle here about what to do in the meantime and british who was then obviously knows what is going on and they probably talked to the people at a hospital in the people of hostile telling them we can't keep this

crowd a way you've got to do something the local anniston police will provide protection bobby kennedy called john patterson and john patterson would not i don't want to force you would take bobby kennedy's call the kneecaps and agitators won't be protected by the state fred shows were cut a group of black man braves men that i knew how to drive up from birmingham a distance of nine years of mouth and that's how we get a vanished and down but those people willing to burn the hospital bow which of course most of the people and i asked her why just to get us in their own with the epa is no longer yet at a saintly i would simply say they

want to write little girl we were there obviously we all lay endowment having trouble and we need it like it's water little girl ran into her house and started bringing out water and you'd run by can just keep bringing out water and i got a chance to meet her years later she was twelve years old at the time her family house may have a store that was a disconnect into the house was burned in retaliation the klan retaliated and they were harassed and mercifully for what she did that she had to leave the city the epicenter today with a relative pretty unusual women to kill a little girl to home that will grow

some tips for act of kindness and so once again the people of amherst and have a measure to change it oh yes you know slow a little girl who lived in the house a twist up inferno was bring us war and should run by default when warren gets a broader picture water and they had some small paper cups and she was just going from one person to the other re filling their water cups i didn't notice it at the time but people were screaming at her just

same vow evil things about her and the local parents of course were terrified as well you know obviously the torah will blow to helping people but they didn't know it was going to happen to them as a result of those people and there were some terrible things happened to witnesses he says till twelve you get into it for a rhetorical trick or twelve your girl was running into her house and bring us war and put your white girl and the crowd was very upset with her and sets a terrible things a bottle and threatening her nope it was just the story last year

though when we were probably at it was governor paterson wouldn't provide any protection local police would not provide any protection and so by now it's nightfall call went to reverend shuttlesworth see if he can bring somebody us upload to rescue its end i don't know how many cars are war but he tells the story later that he insisted that the man not be armed and on so they drove up from of alabama and he said they broke or kansas beatles and and everybody knew what they and that was on a one way one highway to get to an extent and so obviously the man had to be worried about being ambushed along the way and that

was a very very real possibility we got there and we were still in pretty bad shape we piled into those cars and i don't know if i went to sleep go on the way but that's how we get out of amnesty the poor you sure church events wrong right yes well how we do you know we were the heroes if you will but all of us were just in terrible shape physically it just is still having trouble breathing and we obviously were just received by other people

warming hospitality and everything in the world you know people just welcome all says this is conquering heroes and honestly and that was sort of a good feeling but still ew you're feeling physically i think it was the next day when her apartment and then we have missed one of the people in our office we can find them and we feared the worst and the worst that we feared was that he did not get off of the bluffs and there's a gonna be just a matter of time before someone is the report that they found a body burned in the bus and as it turned out he had gotten out of the bus one of the winners had been completely broken out and he got scratched a pretty property bed getting out of the bus and he jumped out of the boss andy white person

stopped and he not flying them down and that's how he got away from that but we didn't know that until about three days two to three days later and jimmy mac now he's passed away since passed away so wrong well we thought they'd get to move to a scientist and lisa boston get burned and no you know but we didn't realize at the time just how badly between those those individuals were jump at who and walter bergman received injuries that stayed with him the rest of their lives and i'm just really had to their best quartered bergman was confined to a wheelchair after all and jam packed suffer brain damage he died some years later the moon is

just isn't the unions here's why ok the people on the hill the bust the one that went into the bus station in birmingham where very badly beaten and someone had those injuries that stayed with them for the rest of their lives it is well how it i didn't i don't quite remember except that i know i was feeling it physically a feeling that i'm in and one of the things about smoke inhalation it has a delayed effect so sometime it's two to three days before it really hammers you down so i was getting to that point where

i was just sick i went home with jim peck to new york the first time where we're going to meet you and for about three or four days i was just really out of it and so we have jumped from a maid the decision to end the freedom ride at that point i dont think i had any kind of a reaction to it and something wood though maybe the rest of this i think was the kids' amass feel blessed art who signaled the rights of data go on well now jane fonda made the decision and i understand why we've just physically were not in a position to go and he really thought that some early to someone's going to kill coca are the farmer made a decision to suspend the ride because physically goals of us who will bolster buses were not in good physical shape to continue and jim also for oh

someone's going to get killed and he didn't know that that kind of responsibility you know he just set the ride is over and beatrice kids you are i flew to new orleans and then from new orleans to new york to live with that in your years where welcomes sclc so that yes we have made the point been the way city felt that they wanted to take up the cause in the courts that stab a week and so they are saying okay you know you've given us a lot of material to go into court sclc felt

also and i've since learned some good reasons for that but they felt that we had made the point and so let's just sit back and see how america reacts the fisk years to tennessee state kids felt that no we need to keep to keep pushing it off and ultimately proved to be right will you do the one line i remember that seem to resonate in ghetto out a response and i said if i wasn't a burly

and it would be easier for me to drive through east berlin than it is for me to ride on the front seat of a greyhound bus through the south what kind of country is this where i have more rights in a communist country that i have in my own country folks thought it was a pretty good line and final question i wasn't just lined with me i want to make drive the point home and so i did and i still nineteen years old and still what was happening to me was pretty at a lot of radio interviews couple of television interviews and go somebody said area expressways several the well and so that was good news in this little kid in school and why when i went back to new york and after

i'd spent and after i recovered court put beyond the disputed circuit and it turned out i guess i was pretty good edgar drawn a crowd and then modestly raising a lot of money i think you call it these days a motivational speaker so i was enjoying that to be neighbors to tell the story what was going on and what happened to us and that i got the news that the rights were continuing much two koreas disappointment and chagrin i sit down and not with a speaking i don't get on the plane go down to one the number goes on gilmore ride and continue on and that's how i made a decision that there are areas where we were i got there the day after the eu the market attack the church where the freedom riders were having a meeting in the national guard had been called the fog out that the next day

and we were getting ready for the day after that to continue to rise all into mississippi and i'll never forget that night when i went to the house where her body was staying they greeted me like a cocker and here only and he decided to continue and of course our rules to the moment a rhetorical it and don't and so i was the veteran i was the devil devil hardened veteran i've been through the fire is and i could use various but local references rabbinical i have been in the burning flames and then come out hardened man and then read it to lead the righteous call ultimately show and those so i was once again and it was a good moment for me and i became a resource person i was an authority on

though what kind of violence we would have them i always have a penchant for for singing and leading the singer singing solos a cheerleader and i was like the attention but i cannot sew and i could tell them about the dangers or heerden the state within nineteen i was nineteen of august eight nineteen for thirty years and so you hear well this band that freedom songs and taken the greyhound bus stu jackson this time i'm riding in the front seat and i'll do we had every time helen you're on the trail and helen mirren it's fine have a new year on travel and on freedoms mine mine you know ray

charles have a song called hit the road jack and we changed it to get your rights jack and don't be a tom no more no more no more normal get your rights jack and don't be a tom no more and that was our exhortation to those folks who were standing on the sidelines in a frayed to go register to vote or something of that nature so so what well when we were taking a bus into mississippi and that's when we sang but otherwise recalls own the freedom riders were on those political bosses so this was kind of where jordan situation to we got to win this state and then once again there just something about crossing the mississippi state lab that sends a chill an insider view and of course you have the mississippi national guard they're an alabama national guard handedness off to mississippi called by now

that the justice department is very serious that they'll be the war of what happened in alabama and so we're on bobby kennedy i mean i think he nationalized to federalize both the alabama and the mississippi national guard that particular time so they had to dan give us protection but what you cross at mississippi state line you the roof you know hey we're in the jaws of the tiger now notwithstanding what has happened in alabama mississippi promised do not play with this song respect it's boulder and you are good man that the rules of

etiquette in mississippi was you always saidi yes sir and no sir two one quarter and they were going to go to mississippi etiquette racial etiquette is that a black man is always supposed to say yes sir and no sir to a white man yes ma'am and no ma'am to white woman without exception is posted there we didn't know that so the surprise they had folks was when we get into the police station that we've been arrested and were to sit here and get processed for five police officers i'm sitting there like i'm sitting in this

year at the desk and they would be around you and they'd ask you questions ct vivian was the first one into the process and they would ask him leslie to give indian states may have been thirty five so you're thirty five years old and he would say yes i am and they generally start beating you why because he didn't say yes sir that was one of the individuals who went in and of course all we could hear was the beating of this individual well honestly that that along us but we had a quick meeting aren't monogamous say yes sir no sir but in order to avoid getting bitten you answer a question with the affirmative case in point you're named henry thomas my

name is henry thomas you from st augustine florida i am from st augustine florida so you always avoid having to say you open the border yes and no question we had to say sir well i was doing pretty good and they had just finished with me and they say that i think of course we're if you get anything yesterday episode no and i just so stories and i'm relaying that therefore but a couple seconds because i'm very very angry and obviously the impulse is to get up and start shooting but also new revenue or be a demand for tickets or got up slow and

each will have to handle a gun but once again i was determined that i was going to win this one so instead of showing fear i showed the anger and i'll never forget the one who hit is a little short film and he was ready to hit me and i just stare and we stared at each other for well and that's when the sergeant and intervening to just set up this other hand i will never forget that guy's face but nevertheless i didn't say yes sir no sir movie were no problems outside of the bus station i think the bus station have been cardinal so no people were allowed they had all they had

awakened steyer they had camera rehearsed if you will what they were going to do you walk inside the waiting room if you're a white person and white waiting on the police captain captain lee would say move on move on move on three times and then he would be arrested and take immediately to be a better way and then immediately are to the jail but still it was a yes and that's when the beatings that they start with us inside the jail this is the thing they were of course mississippi if you're black person you were arrested by the police you gonna get worked the couple stand can no matter what it was and so they were determined they were sure the freedom riders but they are in mississippi now and so they were looking for an excuse to be the owners and that idea of us not saying yes sir and no sir to a

white person was what was used