Black Attorney's Role In Montgomery Bus Boycott

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement, sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955, and lasting for 13 months. The protest centred on the racial segregation of public buses in Montgomery, Alabama, where African Americans were forced to sit at the back and give up their seats for white passengers. The boycott was coordinated by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), with Martin Luther King Jr. as its president, and it brought him into the national spotlight as a prominent civil rights leader. The success of the boycott, which saw up to 90% of Montgomery's African American citizens refuse to ride the buses, demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass protest in challenging racial segregation. Ultimately, the protest led to a federal court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional, with the Supreme Court affirming this decision in November 1956.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest against racial segregation on public transport

During this period, Jim Crow laws mandated the racial segregation of the Montgomery Bus Line. African Americans were not hired as drivers, forced to sit at the back of the bus, and frequently had to give up their seats to white passengers, despite comprising 75% of the bus system's riders. The treatment of African American passengers often extended beyond the segregation laws, with passengers being assaulted, shortchanged, and left stranded by bus drivers.

In response to Parks' arrest, the Women's Political Council (WPC), a group of Black women working for civil rights, began circulating flyers calling for a boycott of the bus system on December 5, the day of Parks' trial. The boycott was organized by WPC President Jo Ann Robinson, who, along with E.D. Nixon, a prominent Black leader, bailed Parks out of jail. Nixon also began calling local Black leaders, including Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King Jr., to organize a planning meeting.

On December 2, Black ministers and leaders met at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and agreed to publicize the boycott. The protest received widespread publicity, and on December 5, 90% of Montgomery's Black citizens stayed off the buses. That afternoon, the city's ministers and leaders met again and formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), electing King as their president. The MIA voted to continue the boycott, and King delivered a powerful speech, declaring their determination to fight for justice.

The MIA presented a list of demands to the city and bus company officials, including courteous treatment by bus operators, first-come, first-served seating for all, with Blacks seating from the rear and whites from the front, and the hiring of Black bus operators for predominantly Black routes. When these demands were not met, Montgomery's Black residents continued the boycott throughout 1956, despite efforts by city officials and white citizens to defeat it. The MIA organized carpools, and Black taxi drivers charged reduced fares to support the boycott.

The boycott was extremely effective, causing significant economic distress to the city's transit system. It also faced violent opposition, with the homes of King and Nixon being bombed. Despite the challenges, the boycott persisted, and on June 5, 1956, a federal district court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court affirmed this decision in November, and on December 20, 1956, the boycott officially ended after 381 days, leading to the integration of Montgomery's bus system.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a pivotal event in the civil rights movement, demonstrating the power of nonviolent mass protest to challenge racial segregation. It brought Martin Luther King Jr. into the national spotlight as a prominent civil rights leader and inspired similar campaigns across the South, shaping the course of the struggle for racial equality in the United States.

The boycott lasted from 5 December 1955 to 20 December 1956

The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days, from 5 December 1955 to 20 December 1956. It was sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on 1 December 1955. Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress and member of the NAACP, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and was arrested for violating the bus driver's orders. Parks was bailed out of jail by E.D. Nixon, a prominent Black leader, who believed she would be an upstanding and sympathetic plaintiff in a legal challenge of the segregation ordinance.

The day after Parks' arrest, Nixon called a meeting of local ministers at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church. Nixon wanted King to lead the boycott because, as a new arrival to Montgomery, he hadn't had time to be intimidated by the city fathers. On 4 December, Black ministers announced the boycott in church, and the next day, approximately 40,000 Black bus riders boycotted the system. That afternoon, Black leaders met to form the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), with King as president, and decided to continue the boycott until their demands were met.

The MIA's initial demands included courtesy, the hiring of Black drivers, and a first-come, first-served seating policy, with whites entering from the front and African Americans from the rear. However, these demands were not met, and Montgomery's Black residents stayed off the buses throughout 1956, despite efforts by city officials and white citizens to defeat the boycott. In response, the MIA organised a carpool system, with around 300 cars, and Black taxi drivers charged only 10 cents—the same price as bus fare—for African American riders.

The boycott garnered national and international attention, bringing King into the spotlight as a prominent leader of the civil rights movement. It also inspired other African American communities in the South to protest racial discrimination and galvanised the direct nonviolent resistance phase of the civil rights movement.

The boycott officially ended on 20 December 1956, after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling that Alabama's bus segregation laws were unconstitutional. The next day, buses in Montgomery were integrated.

Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress and NAACP member, boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, to get home. She took a seat in the "colored" section of the bus. As the bus filled up, the bus driver, James F. Blake, demanded that Parks and three other Black passengers give up their seats for white passengers. The other three Black riders complied, but Parks refused. She was arrested and fined $10, plus $4 in court fees.

Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation. Nine months earlier, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin had been arrested in Montgomery for the same act. However, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) believed that Parks was the best candidate for a court challenge. They thought she would be an upstanding and sympathetic plaintiff, and she helped inspire the black community to boycott the Montgomery buses for over a year.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation. It was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States. The boycott ended on December 20, 1956, after 382 days, when the federal ruling Browder v. Gayle took effect, and the United States Supreme Court declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws that segregated buses were unconstitutional.

Rosa Parks' act of defiance and the Montgomery Bus Boycott became important symbols of the civil rights movement. Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation and worked with civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr.

The protest was supported by the Women's Political Council (WPC)

The roots of the WPC can be traced back to 1946 when Mary Fair Burks, an English professor at Alabama State College, organized the council as a civic organization for African-American women in the city. The group targeted Montgomery's small population of black middle-class women, encouraging their civic involvement and promoting voter registration. The WPC also aided women who were victims of rape or assault and provided literacy education to help African Americans fulfill the literacy requirements for voting.

By 1949, the WPC had expanded its focus to include public protest, inspired by the Atlanta Neighborhood Union. The group began to actively challenge the city's unfair practices, such as requiring African Americans to enter buses through the back door after paying their fare at the front. They also advocated for an end to segregation on buses, meeting regularly with city officials to discuss these issues.

In 1953, the WPC approached Montgomery city commissioners about the unfair treatment of African American bus riders. They presented three main complaints:

• African American patrons were forced to stand while empty "white-only" seats remained.
• There were fewer bus stops in African American neighborhoods compared to white neighborhoods.
• African American patrons had to pay fares at the front and then exit and re-enter through the back to take their seats.

Despite their efforts, the WPC's concerns were consistently dismissed by city commissioners. Undeterred, the group continued to plan for a citywide boycott of buses. In March 1954, they achieved a small victory when bus company officials agreed to increase the number of bus stops in African American neighborhoods.

In March 1955, the arrest of 15-year-old Claudette Colvin for refusing to give up her seat further galvanized the WPC. They helped arrange meetings among black leaders, the bus company, and city officials to discuss this incident. The WPC decided to wait for the right person to be arrested to initiate a boycott, as they wanted someone who would anger the black community into action and garner widespread support.

That opportunity came in December 1955 with the arrest of Rosa Parks. The WPC, led by Jo Ann Robinson, sprang into action. They drafted, mimeographed, and circulated 35,000-50,000 flyers calling for a boycott of the bus system on December 5, the day of Parks' trial. The WPC played a crucial role in sustaining the boycott, providing car transportation for many boycotters and organizing mass meetings and communications to support the protest.

The WPC's efforts during the Montgomery Bus Boycott were instrumental in bringing Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights struggle into the national spotlight. Their actions demonstrated the organizing power of African Americans and highlighted the urgent need for civil rights reforms in the city.

The boycott ended with a US Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest against the policy of racial segregation on Montgomery, Alabama's public transit system. The boycott lasted from December 5, 1955—the Monday after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person—to December 20, 1956, when the federal ruling Browder v. Gayle took effect. This ruling led to a US Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws mandating segregation on buses unconstitutional.

Browder v. Gayle was filed by attorneys Fred Gray and Charles D. Langford on February 1, 1956, on behalf of four African American women who had been mistreated on city buses due to their race. The original plaintiffs in the case were Aurelia S. Browder, Susie McDonald, Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, and Jeanatta Reese. However, due to outside pressure, Reese withdrew from the case the following month. The lawsuit sought a declaratory judgment that Alabama state statutes and Montgomery city ordinances requiring segregation on buses operated by the city and Alabama Public Service Commission violated the Fourteenth Amendment's protections for equal treatment.

On June 5, 1956, a three-judge US District Court panel ruled 2-1 that segregation on Alabama's intrastate buses was unconstitutional, citing Brown v. Board of Education as a precedent. This decision was affirmed by the US Supreme Court on November 13, 1956, and the Court rejected city and state appeals to reconsider on December 17, 1956. The Supreme Court's ruling ended the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott, and the buses were officially integrated on December 21, 1956.

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