The Montgomery Bus Boycott-Rosa Parks

Who Was Rosa Parks?

Rosa Parks is known to all as the woman who stood up for herself and the many blacks around her. She was an African American Civil Rights Activist, who was often called "The First lady of Civil Rights" because of what she did to start the Civil Rights Movement. On December 1st, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks got onto a bus and refused to obey the white bus driver's (James F. Blake) order to give up her seat to a standing white person in the coloured section of the bus after the white section was filled. This situation that happened that day was called bus segregation and Rosa Parks wasn't the only person in history to resist this kind of segregation. However, Parks was the most famous person to have done this because she was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest from disobeying the bus driver and violating the Alabama laws.

What Rosa Parks did in 1955 led to many protests an the Montgomery Bus Boycott which was a very important symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks also became a worldwide icon for the resistance of racial Segregation.  Rosa Parks also organized and collaborated with many other Civil Rights Activists including Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King who was also a very important mark in time for the Civil Rights Movement. 

This is the exact bus that Rosa Parks boarded on December 1st. The number of the bus was 2857. It was an old looking GM Transit Bus. That bus is now in the Henry Ford museum.

The Montgomery Laws

In 1900, Montgomery, Alabama had passed some new laws, that whites could only vote for, to separate the bus seats according to race. Drivers were told to assign seats for the whites and the coloured. This was very unfair and unjust because the whites always got the nicer seats and pretty much everything was nicer for them. On the other hand, the coloured had to sit at the very back and there were only a small amount. Therefore, many african americans had to also stand whenever the bus was crowded or sit on the same seat as someone who got a seat. If the bus was really crowded and there were some whites standing, the African Americans that were sitting had to give up there seats to the whites. 

The first 4 rows of the buses in Montgomery were reserved for the whites only. The seats that were reserved for the blacks were usually at the back of the bus, even though the blacks often compromised more than 75% of the passengers in the bus.  Black people were allowed to sit in the middle rows until the white only seats were filled. African Americans' couldn't sit in any if the aisle seats or in any seats that were in the same row as the whites.

What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott Incident?

The Montgomery Bus Boycott incident was one of the most remarkable events to ever happen in American history. It was also a very important mark in the Civil Rights era from 1955-1968. It was a political and social protest campaign against the racial segregation problems on the public transit systems of Montgomery, Alabama. The Montgomery Bus Boycott incident lasted from December 1st 1955, when Rosa Parks was first arrested to 1956, when Browder V. Gayle, took effect and led the United States Supreme Court to make the Montgomery laws requiring the segregated buses to be unconstitutional.

On Sunday, December 4th, 1955, plans for the Montgomery Bus Boycott protest were raised and announced at black churches in the area. It was also on a front page article in the Montgomery Advertising company to attract people and to get their attention. The very next day Rosa Parks was pressed on charges of disorderly Conduct and violating the Montgomery laws. This trial only lasted 30 minutes because she was found guilty and was fined $10, plus $4 in court costs.

On the same day of Rosa Park's trial, 35,000 leaflets were distributed throughout the whole state of Alabama for everyone to read. This quote briefly describes what the leaflets said:

"We are...asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial ... You can afford to stay out of school for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off the buses Monday."

When the blacks heard of this, from then on, they rode in carpools, while other african americans traveled in black-operated cars that charged the same fare as the bus, which was 10¢. Other blacks, which consisted of 40,000 blacks walked, some walked as far as 20 miles. As more of the blacks walked instead of taking the bus, this therefore threw the bus companies out of business as they weren't getting enough money since the blacks started walking. On Monday night, 50 African American leaders of the community gathered together to discuss the actions of Rosa Parks and her arrest. Edgar Nixon who was the president of the NAACP, said "Oh my God, look what segregation has put  in my hands!"

I got some of my notes here from these links:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Bus_Boycott
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks#cite_note-time100-27