Rustin should not only be a hero because he was willing to be out at a time when it was not adventageous but also because he held true to his pacifist's beliefs and was labeled a communists when other blacks weren't willing to do that. Most people know of the Freedom Rides of the 60's. Rustin was part of a group that tried to intergrate the interstate bus lines during the early 50's. Many consider him the architect of the March on Washington and while other leaders tried to downplay and even threatened Martin Luther King with saying that if he allowed Rustin to speak they would label him homosexual as well...King stood by him.