- Quotes[on the expanding role of the Freedom Riders in 1960s America] We did not see this as simply a civil rights issue. It was a human rights issue. We were then beginning to connect our struggle with the struggles of people all over the world, and especially the struggles in Africa, and it took some people a little bit aback that we are fighting for our freedom. Because as most Americans were concerned - most white Americans - how can you connect segregation here with the totalitarianism and the dictatorships of Europe? To me it was the same thing. And we were saying it to the world. This land of great opportunity, this land of liberty has an asterisk beside it. It is a land of freedom for everybody else except black people. This great March on Washington was our way of calling attention to it.
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