Etched deep in the annals of American history, the Montgomery Bus Boycott stands out as a highly revered case in American society, especially among African Americans. A social and political protest against racial segregation policies, the Montgomery Bus Boycott occurred in Montgomery, Alabama between December 5, 1955, and December 29, 1956. At the time, Jim Crow laws were in effect, apparently pushing for adverse racial discrimination against the people of color in Alabama and other regions in South America. Equality, even in the transit system, remained an unattainable dream. Surprisingly, besides not being allowed to ride on the bus front seats, Africans were decreed to give up their seats in favor of the white passengers. This paper will examine the Montgomery Bus Boycott to highlight the issues that occurred during the boycott and its impact on the United States. A well-regarded occurrence, the Montgomery Bus Boycott transformed the racial history of the United States.
Background
Segregation against the people of color had been legitimized under the city ordinance of Montgomery, Alabama. According to Mcghee (2015), African Americans were supposed to only ride buses from the back half seats besides yielding their seats to any white rider in the event the front half, or rather if the whites' reserved section was full. However, this requirement would face its first test and defiance by a black American. December 1, 1955, is a memorable day in Montgomery as it marked the beginning of the fall of racial discrimination in the south. Dierenfield (2013) submits that Rosa Parks in utter defiance refused to yield her seat at the front row of the last half section for the African Americans. Parks was riding from work to home on a Montgomery's Cleveland Avenue bus when J. Fred Blake, the bus driver asked four blacks, Sara Parks included to give up their seats for the whites. Unfortunately, the other three African American rides agreed. However, Parks refused vehemently to vacate her seat (Johnson‐Coleman, 2015). Ultimately, Park's refusal would have implications for her.
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Sarah Park's disobedience was seen as insubordination to the city ordinance law. Parks was arrested and arraigned in court, whereby she was fined $10 in addition to court fees amounting to $4 (Mcghee, 2015). Prior to Park's court sentence, Women's Political Council (WPC), the black women group under the civil rights movement had been circulating flyers against the bust system. The flyers called for African Americans to boycott riding on the Montgomery buses in support of Sarah Parks and by extension express their anger against the segregation transit laws; Jo Ann Robinson, the WPC president, organized the boycott (Burns, 2012). Eventually, the boycott calls would reach far and wide in the whole Alabama area.
Leaders for the Montgomery African American community supported the initiative. Incidentally, on Sunday, December 4, 1955, black ministers stressed the importance of the boycott during their church service (Alderman et al., 2013). It was not about the African Americans spearheading their cause. According to Burns (2012), sympathizers alike helped in spreading the information. The city's general-interest publication, the Montgomery Advertiser carried a front-page excerpt about the planned protest. The next day saw around 40, 000 African American bus riders boycotted the transit system marking the start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott on December 5, 1955. In the afternoon of the same day, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. would be elected the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) (Burns, 2012).
Protest Demands
Initially, the Montgomery African American protesters sought few changes in the city's transit system. Mcghee (2015) states that the blacks sought black drivers to be hired, courtesy, first-come, first-seated policy; the changes allowed whites to enter and fill the front seats with the African Americans occupying the rear seats. These demands were seen as a win-win situation for the whites and blacks, an aspect that would foster respect besides harmonious coexistence. Nonetheless, to the detriment of the blacks who represented the majority of the bus riders, about 75%, the city could not yield to their demands. Angered by the city's move, the blacks would later change their demands. Five women sued Montgomery City, asking the District Court to invalidate the bus segregation policy (Dierenfield, 2013). During the court case period, African Americans continued to boycott the buses to force the administrative system to accept their demands.
The Ruling
On June 5, 1956, the federal court issued its ruling on the matter. Mcghee (2015) presents that, the Montgomery-based court invalidated the city transit policy noting that any law promoting racially segregated transport system is a violation of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. In the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War, the U.S. Congress adopted 1868, 14th Amendment, which guarantees all American citizens irrespective of their race-equal protection and equal rights under both federal and state laws (Winter, 2014). Shockingly, the city appealed against the ruling to the Supreme Court of the U.S. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the District Court's ruling on December 20, 1956, marking the end of the bus boycott.
The Negative Impact
Lasting for 381 days, the Montgomery Bus Boycott is the longest racial protest to hit the United States. Its impact on the American society brought some negative implications. After the Supreme Court ruling on December 20, 1955, buses plying Montgomery were integrated on December 21, 1956 (Johnson‐Coleman, 2015). The integration marked the end of racial segregation in the city's transport system. The integration decision received mixed reactions from African Americans and whites alike (Alderman et al., 2013). While the blacks saw it as a win and an acceptable move, the whites felt threatened. Consequently, the whites launched resistance leading to violence and continued segregation at the bus stops (Thornton 2014). Ultimately, the maiming of African Americans and the destruction of property ensued.
Ku Klux Klan spearheaded the whites' resistance to the integration process. Thornton (2014) opines that the supremacist group led the torching of four black churches, including the house of Martin Luther King, Jr. in January 1957. The police had to swing into swift action that led to the arrest of seven bombers, all of which were members of the Ku Klux Klan. Due to the police move, violence related to the busing issue ceased. Nevertheless, although the violence ended, it caused injuries and loss of property to the blacks.
The Positive Impact
The Montgomery Bus Boycott led to the end of racial segregation in the heart of Alabama. Integration in which blacks and white enjoyed equal rights in the Montgomery busing system would not have been achieved were it not for the prolonged bus boycotts and protests (Mcghee, 2015). Apart from encouraging the African American community to pursue their equal rights, the boycott drew the attention of the international community, and the American leaders to the violations city laws did to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The District Court ruling and the Supreme Court's upholding of the same is a defining moment in the history of American civil rights (Winter, 2014). Indeed, it set the tone for the end of racial discrimination in the south.
Courtesy of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King, Jr. who would later lead the African Americans in their quest for equal rights and treatment in the face of the U.S. Constitution shot into prominence. The bus boycott bore the stage for the eventual large-scale civil action led by King to fight for fair treatment of all Americans regardless of the skin of their color (Cook, 2013). Throughout the protest, the Montgomery protest, Martin Luther King, Jr. solidified his commitment to the pursuit of nonviolent resistance. Dierenfield (2013) argues that the King's approach horned during the Montgomery Bus Boycott became the hallmark of the 1960s' civil rights movement. In a broad sense, the Montgomery Bus Boycott bore the civil rights movement that would finally relieve African Americans from the burden of racial segregation.
Shortly after the Montgomery Bus Boycott, King took an active role in organizing the Southern Christian Conference (SCLC). The SCLC was a highly acclaimed and influential organization for civil rights that worked in the fight against segregation across the South (Cook, 2013). The formation of the SCLC as envisioned throughout the Montgomery Bus Boycott affairs played an instrumental part in fostering civil rights campaigns in different regions of the United States. Finally, the SCLC organized the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the iconic "I Have a Dream" Speech (Winter, 2014). Besides opening the eyes of the blacks to the ills of the American society, the March on Washington and King's speech ushered in many civil rights changes, including total cessation of racial segregation.
In retrospect, the Montgomery Bus Boycott transformed the racial history of the United States. Starting with defiance to the city's ordinance laws enforcing racial segregation against African Americans, the Montgomery Bus Boycott led to the invalidation of the discriminative policies in Alabama. Although it was marked with some violence during the integration period, its benefits are evident in contemporary American society. Montgomery Bus Boycott bore the Southern Christian Conference (SCLC) through Martin Luther King, Jr. The SCLC organized the 1963 March on Washington that culminated in the eventual end of racial discrimination in the United States.
References
Alderman, D. H., Kingsbury, P., & Dwyer, O. J. (2013). Re-examining the Montgomery Bus Boycott: Toward an empathetic pedagogy of the civil rights movement. The Professional Geographer , 65 (1), 171-186.
Burns, S. (Ed.). (2012). Daybreak of freedom: The Montgomery bus boycott . University of North Carolina Press.
Cook, R. (2013). Sweet land of liberty: The African-American struggle for civil rights in the twentieth century . Routledge.
Dierenfield, B. J. (2013). The civil rights movement: Revised edition . Routledge.
Johnson‐Coleman, S. R. (2015). Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism , 1-2.
Mcghee, F. (2015). The Montgomery bus boycott and the fall of the Montgomery city lines. Alabama Review , 68 (3), 251-268.
Thornton, J. M. (2014). Challenge and Response in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955–1956. Alabama Review , 67 (1), 40-112.
Winter, M. (2014). Civil Rights Movement . ABDO.
