“‘My
job on the Freedom Ride was to document what happened when blacks and whites
together sit on the bus in the front, go to the counters in the bus terminals,
drink out of the white or black fountain, go to the ‘colored’ restrooms . . .
and see what happens when they used those facilities,’ he said.
“But Gaffney kept his distance from the other riders, for
his safety and theirs. He said being a photographer was perhaps even more
dangerous than being a Freedom Rider.
“[A]sked
if he thought the Freedom Riders were crazy, Gaffney said, ‘Well, I was
wondering if I was crazy. They took a nonviolent course . . . before
they left. I don’t know how they train you to be nonviolent when you’re getting
your head beaten.
“‘I
was afraid I might not come back. The further South I got, and they found out I
had the camera? When we hit North Carolina, the headline in the newspaper said,
‘Stormtroopers Coming’ in the largest type they could have. So I said, things
are getting rough.’”
—Theodore Gaffney
(1927-2020), civil rights photographer, in Ira
Shapira, “He
risked his life photographing the 1961 Freedom Riders. Theodore Gaffney just
died from the coronavirus at 92,” The Washington Post, April 16, 2020.
• Editorial Comment: A long ride. RIP, Mr. Gaffney.
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