The Montgomery Bus Boycott, which began in December of 1955, is generally accepted as the start of the Civil Rights Movement. But perhaps it was not. It may have been any of the instances below plus countless others…
· 1943 when Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, paid her bus fare and
watched the bus drive off as she tried to reenter the back, “black” door.
· 1949 when black professor, Jo Ann Robinson, absentmindedly sat in
the front seat of a bus and was yelled at and ran off crying.
· early 1950 when black pastor, Vernon Johns, tried to get blacks
to leave a bus after he was forced to give his seat to a white man who had
insulted him.
· 50 years earlier during the first boycott
The
Boycott didn’t start the movement of individuals and small groups standing up
against a system that held down blacks of the day. It was, however, the event that joined together a nation of
people to stand against hatred based on the color of skin.
The
Bus Boycott had a beginning on December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give
her seat up to a white man. Her efforts
were not that of a body but of a single person. After leaving her work on this day she decided to take the bus
home. As she entered the bus she
noticed that only one seat was available and she took it, it was in the first
row of the colored section of the bus.
When a man entered the bus the driver told Rosa and the 3 others on her
row to get up and give him their seats.
No one moved until his second command, at which point everyone but Rosa
moved. She stayed put and was arrested
for her action. She was not trying to
start a national movement but “she defied the conventional assumption that her
blackness was a badge of inferiority.”
Many
people romanticize the story of Rosa Parks defiance and say it assume this was
her first stance against such injustices.
The truth, however, is that she had been involved in the NAACP in
Montgomery for 10 years and was very involved in forwarding the plight of the
underprivileged.
Over
December 3 and 4 the black community came together in Montgomery. They wanted to plan a one day boycott of the
bus system. The NAACP and the Women’s
Political Council came together to plan a one day boycott of the bus system in
Montgomery. The leaders of these two
groups came together and asked Rosa Parks for her help. They printed and distributed over 40,000
hand bills about the boycott in 2 days.
This effort was mainly accomplished by women. All the black ministers in the area announced it in church. Many churches had special masses that Sunday
night before the boycott was to be held that Monday, December 5. A mammoth gathering was also planned for the
evening following the boycott.
The
boycott was an amazing success due to the tremendous efforts of its organizers
and the sense of community among the participants. One source noted that 90% of the African American people who
normally rode the buses did not on this day.
Another said that only 8 blacks were actually observed riding the bus
that day. The Mass that evening was
attended by so many people they could not fit inside the church. The keynote for the night was a young man
named Martin Luther King, Jr. King was
unknown and new to the area and people liked him. Rev. Abernathy, head of the NAACP in Montgomery and Jo Ann Robinson,
head of the Women’s Political Council, got together and pushed him to lead the
service. He took charge. That night a unanimous vote was taken to
continue the boycott indefinately. That
night Martin Luther King was also put in charge of the boycott and the new
coalition, MIA, Montgomery Improvement Association. People liked King because of his youth (26), he taught nonviolent
protest, and he was new enough to the area that local politicians had not
corrupted him yet. This boycott started
King on his journey that would change our world.
People
decided to fight because of faith. The
African American people of Montgomery had the belief that God was on there side
and that with that nothing else mattered.
This faith and their community sustained them through what would
come. They decided that night that all
efforts would be worth it if the world could be better for their children.
With
the extension of the Bus Boycott much had to be done. The MIA and the Women’s Council came together to organize private
cars to serve as taxi services for the black community. Overnight this service was set up and was
used throughout the Boycott. Any
African American could call and request a ride. Many walked as well.
White woman also went and picked up their workers, against the
suggestion of the Mayor not too.
The
boycott first began just asking for more humane forms of segregation but when
they realized they might not even going to get that they asked for no
segregation at all. Mrs. King said, “we
decided why not go for broke.” When
news came that this was the new goal whites became violent. The boycott had been going on for 9 months
and the whites in Montgomery were feeling the crunch. African Americans were also becoming agitated because other
cities that began bus rights activities after Montgomery had already reached
peace. Nightly Mass meetings were held
to keep up the morale of the people.
These were the backbone to the boycott.
They educated the people on why it was important to keep this up. It served as a support group.
White’s
hardened against blacks and fought against other whites who supported the black
cause. Formed their own White Citizen’s
Council and the KKK strengthened. About
9 months into the boycott the KKK started trouble, burning crosses and bombing
houses. Even facing this violence and
torment the African American community did not faulter.
On
November 3, almost a year after the start of the boycott the Supreme court
ruled that the segregation of buses in Montgomery was unconstitutional. It was a unanimous vote.
The
mass media did not pick up on the Boycott at first. It was another effort that if ignored would go away. But as the months past and the African
Americans refused to quiet it became national news. The real national news, however, came when other cities joined in
the echo for equal rights on buses.
There is power in numbers and that is how one gets noticed in the
media. By the end of the boycott the
news was all over and King was becoming a national hero for African Americans
because of his lessons in non-violent protest.
Today
while we know that many characters played roles in the boycott we see Rosa
Parks of the focal point of the event.
President Clinton recognized her at the State of the Union Address in
1999.
“But for most of us alive today, in
a very real sense, this journey began 43 years ago, when a woman named Rosa
Parks sat down on a bus in Alabama and wouldn’t get up….We thank her.”
We
shall remember her and many others for their selfless efforts. She wishes to remebered this way…
“I would like to be known as a
person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity
for all people.”