Category: Montgomery Bus Boycott

During the 1940s-1960s, America’s Civil rights movements and the treatment of African Americans from the Jim Crow Laws was ongoing issue for generations. I decided to choose the Montgomery bus boycott as my topic because of prior knowledge about the first black women’s arrest against the laws of racial segregation which sparked my interest in The Montgomery bus boycott as they were both on the constitution of segregation. research shows that The Montgomery bus boycott was one of the first steps in changing the discrimination against black people and impacted segregation laws, short term economically and in the long term supported the foundation for successive protest marches.

Historians would explain that the event documented the ways the African Americans dealt with racial oppression, color bar, and racial equality. Sources such as photography and newspaper articles show how largely supported the protest was by the African Americans, capturing their motives and beliefs. Thus, the Montgomery bus boycott was significant in contributing to the success of The Civil Rights Movement in America and fought against racial oppression, color bar, and racial segregation and specifies an understanding of racial barriers and how the protest begged for racial equality.

Source Analysis

Source 1

On a cold, dim late Thursday afternoon of December 1, 1955, a forty-two-year-old seamstress named Rosa Parks, a trim, soft-spoken, bespectacled woman of tidily proper comportment, left after a day of working in the tailor shop of a downtown Montgomery department store and, wearily, boarded a city bus home. She took an aisle seat near the middle of the already crowded bus, besides three other black passengers, in the row right behind the front section reserved by law for whites – which rapidly filled until, at the third stop, a white man was left having to stand. The driver turned to demand of Mrs. Parks and the three blacks beside her, ‘Awright you folks, I want those seats.’ The other three black passengers compliantly arose and moved to stand in the back of the bus – but Mrs. Parks did not budge. The driver again demanded she vacates her seat for the white passenger. She then replied, out of weariness not just from her day’s toil but from all the accumulated debasements and indignities of her past years as a black in Montgomery, quietly and simply: ‘No.’

Source 2

View of a number of African-American commuters as they walk to work… (n.d.). Getty Images. https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/view-of-a-number-of-african-american-commuters-as-they-walk-news-photo/163755534?adppopup=true

Source 3

negro’s arrest, a $14 fine may lead to a court test on bus segregation. (1955). Newspapers.com – Historical Newspapers from the 1700s-2000s. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47031037/after-the-arrest-of-rosa-parks/>

Source 4

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to abolish the Negro race, proper methods should be used. Among these are guns, bows and arrows, slingshots, and knives. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all whites are created equal with certain rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of dead niggers (sic). In every stage of the bus boycott, we have been oppressed and degraded because of black, slimy, juicy, unbearably stinking niggers (sic). The conduct should not be dwelt upon because behind them they have an ancestral background of Pigmies, head hunters, and snot suckers. My friends, it is time we wised up to these black devils. I tell you they are a group of two-legged agitators who persist in walking up and down our streets protruding their black lips. If we don’t stop helping these African flesh-eaters, we will soon wake up and find Rev. King in the White House. Let’s get on the ball white citizens.

Source 5

Many black Montgomerians enjoyed their newly recognized right only abstractly; they avoided the anxiety-producing friction that attended what the segregationists called ‘race mixing.’ The boycott involved communal withdrawal from the presence of the color line. But for a black rider actually crossing the color line was a different matter that involved an exercise of individual will and personal vulnerability that for many proved immensely and understandably daunting. For others, the problem involved a loss of that heightened sense of duty that, during the protest, had generated such glorious departures from normalcy. In the aftermath of the boycott, the gravitational pull of old habits exerted their force: ‘When we first started getting back on the buses I sat up front,’ one former boycotter recalled, ‘ but then I began sitting in the back–I wasn’t afraid or nothing: it’s just that I was accustomed to it.

The boycott made black Montgomerians aware of themselves as a community with obligations and capacities to which they and others had previously been blind. On the eve of the boycott, few would have imagined the latent abilities that resided within that community. The protest elicited and clarified those abilities. On the eve of the boycott, few black Montgomerians would have considered themselves as persons with important political duties. The protest inculcated and enlarged their sense of responsibility. Moreover, by publicizing their willingness and ability to mobilize united opposition to Jim Crow practices, the protesters in Montgomery contributed a therapeutic dose of inspiration to dissidents everywhere. Later developments would attest to the influence of the boycott as a role model that encouraged other acts of rebellion. Participants in subsequent protests remember Montgomery as a distinct, encouraging presence.

‘Martin Luther King Jr: A Life is a biography written by Marshall Frady in 2002 to showcase martin’s life and his impact on discrimination against people of color and to inform people of the hardships the black community faced and endured for something as ordinary as equality. The story takes place on a cold, dim late Thursday afternoon of December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks was arrested for breaching the laws of black people being denied seats on the bus for a white person. From the direct response from rosa to the bus driver of ‘no’, we can clearly indicate that rosa did not want to and would not give up her seat. From the sources’ descriptive and useful language and exaggeration we can infer that people of color were clearly fed up with the laws of the bus, giving a helpful insight into just how unjust they were treated.

‘view of a number of African-American commuters as they walk to work’ captured by Grey Villet during the boycott, February 1965 to prove loyalty to people of color’s decision to not take the bus. This source shows the image of a group of young African American men and women walking to show their support and participation in the boycott. This group of African Americans signifies the alliance of all people of color during the bus boycott. This photograph has perspectives of trying to show the conscious efforts of the black community in Montgomery to avoid the buses and to be passionate about their rights and loyalty to the boycott.

‘negro’s arrest, $14 fine may lead to court test on bus segregation is a newspaper article written in 1955 following the arrest of Rosa Parks and specifically the Montgomery bus boycott. The article contains a critical summary of the arrest and what occurred during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, before and after It was executed. This source was produced to let the public accurately know about the perspectives of the lawyers who stood for Rosa Parks’ arrest and how they were driven by the many years of being put into color bars, segregation, and racial discrimination.

‘White Citizens’ Council’ published by the Montgomery Advertiser on 11 February 1956 is an article that shows the perspectives of the white supremacists, their efforts to belittle the African Americans, and their plans to ‘abolish the Negro race. The author of this source wrote this advertisement directly at white members of Montgomery, ‘LET’S GET ON THE BALL WHITE CITIZENS’ as they described the African Americans as black devils, two legged agitators protruding their black lips African flesh eaters, and “black, slimy, juicy, unbearably stinking niggers.” The author persists on the fact that African Americans are a threat to their society and show a perspective with the use of such foul language to describe the African American people.

‘The Legal Status of the Southern Negro in 1955 – The Limitations and Achievements of the Montgomery Bus Boycott’ written by Randall Vernellia and published in 2018 Is a modernized telling of what happened after the bus boycott and the relationship between the bus boycott and the fight for civil rights, showing perspectives from the African Americans. “The boycott made black Montgomerians aware of themselves as a community with obligations and capacities to which they and others had previously been blind”.

“During this boycott, “their willingness and ability to mobilize united opposition to Jim Crow practices, the protesters in Montgomery contributed a therapeutic dose of inspiration to dissidents everywhere”. These quotes from the source show the impact on the way African Americans were treated, leading doorways to create better civil rights movements for them. Thus, it demonstrates a slow momentum for social change regarding African Americans in America.

Critical Summary of Evidence

The selection of the chosen primary and secondary sources helped to provide different perspectives from the African Americans, white supremacists, and protesters during the bus boycott and many years later recounting the event. With the help of these sources documenting different times from the event, I was able to form an inquiry about the impact of the Montgomery Bus Boycott on the civil rights movement in America. The movement of the civil rights campaign was a slow process but the Montgomery bus boycott did eventually long-term impact the civil rights campaign by desegregating and short-term affected the economy and brought worldwide publicity to the event creating awareness about the issue.

The diversity of sources and their different perspectives was crucial in forming an inquiry and hypothesis. Finding sources from the perspectives of the African Americans and the way they were treated and how they felt about the Montgomery bus boycott and their participation during the event was crucial to creating a contrast between their views and the white supremacists and their motives for treating them that way. The findings and sources support the hypothesis because the Montgomery bus boycott was very significant in contributing to the success of The Civil Rights Movement in The United States of America and fought against racial oppression, color bar, racial segregation, and Jim Crow laws and specifies an understanding into racial barriers and how the protest begged for racial equality.

Reference List

1. Marshall Frady, 2002, Martin Luther King Jr: A Life, Penguin, New York, pp. 29-30
2. negro’s arrest, a $14 fine may lead to a court test on bus segregation. (1955). Newspapers.com – Historical Newspapers from the 1700s-2000s. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47031037/after-the-arrest-of-rosa-parks/>
3. Randall, Vernellia R., 2018, The Legal Status of the Southern Negro in 1955 – The Limitations and Achievements of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Available: http://www.racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=567:civilrights03a-1&catid=135&Itemid=159&showall=&limitstart=4
4. View of a number of African-American commuters as they walk to work… (n.d.). Getty Images. https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/view-of-a-number-of-african-american-commuters-as-they-walk-news-photo/163755534?adppopup=true
5. White Citizens’ Council, Montgomery Advertiser, 11 February 1956: https://mtstmichaelscollege-my.sharepoint.com/personal/17680_msm_qld_edu_au/Documents/Humanities/2020/Term%202/10%20Hum%20ISI%202020%20(1).docx>

The holy trinity of sociological variables that unite us and divide us are class, gender, and race. The most sensitive topic of these three is race which is defined as a group of people who share a set of characteristics—typically, though not always, these are physical characteristics—and are believed to share a common bloodline. Race is a social construct; it is biologically unreal, but sociologically real. In the last 200 years, scientists have attempted to pin down racial categories through scientific racism—the pseudoscientific belief racism can be justified through differences in physical appearance from height to cranial size. With the attempt to claim racial superiority over others, racism took effect.

Racism has been a significant issue throughout American history. It has been defined by physical types and bloodlines which are linked to distinct cultures, behaviors, and abilities, ultimately creating a fine line between superior and inferior races. Racism was significantly evident from the early to late-mid 1900s through what defined as the ‘color line’ (Du Bois). The color line was exhibited everywhere from separate water fountains to designated seats on public buses. This racial emphasis has faded over the years with the help of freedom of speech.

Professor Avery presented a slide that side, “The way to get rid of racism is to stop talking about it”. When members of a group are unsatisfied with certain policies or principles, they voice out their opinions and potential solutions in hopes to revise or eradicate them. The same approach applies to decrease the effects and practices of racism. Civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks have called out the injustice of prejudice which then effectively liberated those part of the inferior race. Racism must be talked about in order to make people aware of its negative consequences.

During the mid-1900s, there was a defined ‘color line’—racial segregation of public facilities. The racially inferior ‘colored’ people and the racially superior white people were designated certain water fountains and seats on public transportation. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, a bus was on its route. It started to fill with white passengers and the bus driver noticed several white passengers were standing in the aisle. The bus driver then stopped the bus and asked four black passengers to give up their seats. Three of them complied; however, one named Rosa Parks refused and remained seated. She did not want to give in into the superior race anymore. Later, Parks was arrested and charged with violation of Chapter 6, Section 11, of the Montgomery City Code. Upon hearing this, Edgar Daniel Nixon, head of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), organized a boycott of Montgomery’s city buses. For 381 days, most members of the African American community did not ride buses. Needing stronger leadership and better organization of these protests, the NAACP recruited Martin Luther King Jr. He is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolent resistance. Their continuous efforts led to the district court to eventually declare racial segregation laws or known as ‘Jim Crow laws’ unconstitutional, making the Montgomery Bus Boycott one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history.

Unfortunately, racism will never be fully eliminated as the social construct has been embedded in our minds for a long time. Efforts must be made in order to reduce the effects and spread of racism. There will be no change in society if racism is not addressed.

A harmonious urban society is dependent on basic civil rights. If these rights are severely compromised, then urban progression will only drive a further divide between the have and have nots. Those above the gaze of discrimination will remain untouched while the others will be submerged in an unjust and prejudiced city.

Housing for non-white citizens in Montgomery, Alabama was severely inferior in both value and amenities. In 1950, Montgomery was heavily segregated; there were distinctive wards that housed white and non-white citizens. This led to disproportionate opportunities for African American citizens and radical inequality. Segregation was heavily supported by many white citizens and the local government. To combat this, African American citizens organized many movements in the name of civil rights. For example, the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, although it was responsible for great clashes with the local government, led to crucial legislative victories and desegregation. This demonstrates that every citizen has the right to their city, they have the ability to radicalize their urban environment in order to cater to the needs of their residents (Harvey, 2003). However, this is true for both white and black citizens. Although these civil rights movements were ultimately victorious, integration policies ironically caused a major influx of whites away from black areas. Throughout the 20th century the repercussions of civil rights victories on the Montgomery urban landscape led to modern forms of segregation within housing districts. The power of an individual city is severely limited in its ability to incite radical change.

Known as Dillion’s Rule, cities are seen as ‘creatures of the state’, they are at the mercy of this governing body. In some instances, the state will grant certain powers to the city; this is known as ‘home rule’ (Russel and Bostrom, 2016). Home rule varies from state to state with some states completely opting out of it. For example, in Alabama, home rule is severely limited in its state constitution (Brewer, 2007). This restriction forced the local government and authoritative body to enforce discriminatory laws and promote white supremacy in Montgomery. Particularly, the implementation of the 1896 Supreme Court ruling of Plessey v. Ferguson, had detrimental effects to the African American population and housing patterns in Montgomery. This ruling created the ‘separate, but equal’ doctrine which legalized discrimination in all public areas (Oyez, 2019). In Montgomery, the impact of such legislation was devastating. Alabama enacted several Jim Crow laws that reinforced the notion of legal segregation. For example, the local bus company had to comply with the law that “all passenger stations in this state (Alabama) operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races” (NPS, 2018). Such laws justified the mistreatment and perception of inferiority of African Americans throughout the 20th century.

In the 1950’s African Americans made up the minority of Montgomery with the authoritative power being granted to the white majority. According to the 1950 population census, the city of Montgomery had 106,525 residents; 60.1% of the population were white and 39.9% were black. African Americans were vastly outnumbered by whites, many of whom supported the implementation and creation of discriminatory policies in Montgomery (Murphy, 2009). Segregation run rampant in virtually every area of public life. Montgomery, according to the housing census of 1950, was compromised of wards, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 23. In ward 6, located in the north of the city, there were 3,137 units available where the poorest black citizens live. 72% of this ward’s residents were non-white and more than 70% had no running water. Additionally, the average home value in 1950 was $2,353. Consequently, in ward 1 located east of ward 6 was where the poorest whites resided, it had 2,946 units, 16% were non-white and only 22% of its residents lived without running water; their average home value in 1950 was $3,683 (US Census Bureau, 1950). These statistics demonstrate the disproportionate socioeconomic conditions of poor whites and non-whites living in relatively close proximity to each other. In ward 7, catering to the white middle class opportunities and amenities were more prevalent: “Schools, churches, clubs, shopping centers, and entertainment venues were constructed to satisfy the need of the area’s new population of middle-class citizens” (Murphy, 2009). Additionally, the richest area was located in ward 23 to the west of the city, there were 2,040 units, 0.7% were non-white, and 0.6% lived without running water; the average home value was $16,675. These conditions were prompted by discriminatory policies and were supported by segregationists (US Census Bureau, 1950).

Civil rights movements in Montgomery in the 1950s sought to combat discrimination and segregation and provide better opportunities for its African American citizens. Their efforts were often met with backlash from the white majority and local governing body. Problems caused by segregation had devastating effects on African American citizens both financially and physiologically. Many African American children felt inferior in 1950 because of the volatile discriminatory policies and general mistreatment of African Americans during Jim Crow (NPS, 2015). However, organizations such as the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) sought to reverse these policies through peaceful means.

On December 1st 1955, NAACP leader Rosa Parks refused give up her seat to a white passenger while riding the bus. She was arrested because she violated Section 10 of the Montgomery City Code requiring segregation on buses. From there, on December 5th, MIA members agreed to schedule a boycott on all Montgomery buses until they were desegregated. The boycott was supported by a carpool system comprised of around 200 private cars and 100 taxis. Black taxi drivers were charging $0.10 per passenger which was much lower than the required $0.45. To combat the carpool system, Police Chief, G. J. Ruppenthal, ordered the strict enforcement of a Montgomery’s law prohibiting more than three passengers to ride in the front seat. The boycott lasted for around ten days before a meeting was held with K.E. Totten, the Vice President of the national city line of Chicago, the parent company of Montgomery city lines, Mayor W.A. Gayle, City Commissioner Frank Parks, and Police Commissioner Clyde sellers. The meeting was held to discuss how the city would react to the boycott. On December 17, Mayor Gale implemented a board comprised of eight Montgomery citizens: four black and four white, including, MIA president, Martin Luther King Jr., to decide on whether Montgomery should implement desegregation. They did not come to a consensus that would totally implement desegregation and the MIA disagreed; the boycott continued. Police Chief Ruppenthal on January 11th delivered copies of a city ordinance enforcing segregation on buses (Carson, 1992). During this time circuit solicitor William F. Thetford ordered Police Commissioner Clyde Sellers to issue an investigative report on the African American movement in Montgomery. The report found that 85-90% of black citizens wanted to ride the bus but were afraid of violence. Despite this report Mayor Gayle encouraged whites not to give blacks rides. Mayor Gayle was greatly opposed to the boycott he explained: “We have pussyfooted around on this boycott long enough. The vast majority of whites in Montgomery don’t care whether a Negro ever rides a bus again”. This attitude was common in Montgomery African Americans were seen as second-class citizens. 11,000 people rallied in front of the city council on February 10th in support of his decision.

On April 23, Montgomery city lines issued a statement saying that they could no longer implement segregation. Police Commissioner sellers stressed that all bus drivers who did not enforce segregation would be arrested. Montgomery city lines Vice President Ben Frank issued a statement saying that the company would support all their drivers. The circuit court in Montgomery fought to end the boycott and had 115 black leaders arrested in violation of the Montgomery anti-boycott law (Carson, 1992). This issue went the Supreme Court ending in the ruling of Gayle v. Brower (1956), which stated that “the enforced segregation of negro and white passengers on motor buses operating in the City of Montgomery violates the Constitution and laws of the United States” (Oyez, 2019) and overturned the Plessey v. Ferguson decision. Additionally, in 1964 after many civil rights efforts the Civil Rights Act was passed by President Johnson that helped combat legal discrimination.

President Johnson also signed the Fair Housing Act in 1968 which drastically changed urban life in Montgomery (Murphy, 2009). Prior to 1968, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), responsible for granting housing loans, did not practice integration: “Blacks received only 2% of loans provided by the FHA between 1945 and 1960” (Lamb, 2005). The Fair Housing Act made housing discrimination illegal. This, in turn, caused many whites who did not agree with integration to flee to the suburbs. Integration from a white perspective meant ‘disruptive protests’ and ‘lower property values’. By 1960, 16% more whites than blacks lived in the suburbs and by 1970 62% of the suburban population were white, by 1980 this number rose to 73% (Lamb, 2005). The bulk of blacks moving to the suburbs did not ensue until around the 1990’s. Blacks began to move to the suburbs in 1995 because the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development created the Central Alabama Fair Housing Center. This center facilitated a grant to Montgomery after the census data reported continued existence of segregation in the city (Murphy, 2009). In the respective wards of Montgomery, the percentage of white residents began to decrease while the black population rose throughout the latter half of the 20th century. In ward 1, where the poorest whites resided between 1950 and 2000 saw a 15% increase of non-white residence. Ward 6, holding the poorest blacks in 1950 saw a 34.3% increase of non-whites by 2000. Additionally, ward 23, holding the richest whites saw an approximately 30% increase of non-whites (Housing census, 2000).

Although this sounds like an improvement in desegregation, the increase in the black population in urban areas correlated with an increase in whites in suburban areas. The white population fled to three major counties: Autauga, Elmore, and Lowndes. In Autauga, the population rose 40% from 1970-1990, the majority being white (US Census, 1970-2000). During this time anti-discrimination laws were being heavily enforced in the inner city, whites sought to move to Autauga because the cost of living was too high for people with low income (Murphy, 2009). In Elmore, between 1970-1990 the white population rose by 57%. Lowndes county saw an 8.6% white increase between 1970-1990 and an -5.1% decrease in the black population. However, between 1970-1990 Montgomery County only saw a 12% white increase while the black population rose 43%. These statistics demonstrate the drastic move of whites away from primarily African American areas (US Census 1970-2000).

Currently, the city is partially integrated with single race wards being eliminated. The suburbs continue to show signs of segregation with the higher income people being primarily white and living in congregated areas. Housing inequality in Montgomery still is prevalent today, however, radical segregation is non-existence and illegal. African Americans utilized their rights as American citizens to congregate and insinuate legislative change. The repercussions of this legislation were unforeseen. White citizens have the right to live where they want to, however, such behavior is counterinitiative to integration and does not promotive a racially tolerant environment. That being said, African American living conditions in Montgomery have drastically improved and opportunities for success are more plentiful. Black citizens challenged the local white government and incited crucial change. Just as the black citizens utilized the ‘right to the city’ and changed Montgomery to promote the desires of African American citizens. The significant decrease of whites within the inner city of Montgomery, although not desired, demonstrates an alternative way citizens chose to change the city to cater to the desires of its white population.