Even though Brown v. Board of Education integrated the school system, many of the Jim Crow laws remained. The law in Montgomery stated that white people and black people had to sit in different sections of the bus and use different entrances. Because of this law, many bus drivers declared that black people had to sit at the back of the bus while white people would sit up front. In addition, black people had to stand up and give their bus seat to any white person who asked for it, and they had to stand in the back even if there were empty seats at the front of the bus.
When a black woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger, the community was outraged. Rosa Parks was a highly respected and well-liked woman. Therefore, when people saw her treated badly, they knew that they had to act. There was a big meeting at a local Baptist Church, and Dr. King was elected leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association. On December 5, 1955, the black population of Montgomery, Alabama, decided that they would “boycott” the buses. If black people could not ride the bus just like the white people, then they would not ride the buses at all, even if they had to walk for miles and miles to get to work or to school. This way, the buses would lose money and everyone would see that the laws were unfair.
Many people of all races supported the efforts of the black boycotters. White people, Jewish people, and people of other races donated money to the boycott. To help the blacks who had to travel long distances, taxi drivers offered reduced fares, and people who owned cars gave free rides to work. Others were not so supportive. The government tried to stop the boycott since it cost the city a lot of money, and a few white people were angry and violent in response to the boycott. Someone even bombed Dr. King’s house, but Dr. King told the people not to be violent in return. He said “Be calm as I and my family are. We are not hurt and remember that if anything happens to me, there will be others to take my place.”
The government of Montgomery did not want to change the segregation laws, and declared that the bus boycott was illegal. The authorities of Montgomery claimed that the boycotters were obstructing the business of Montgomery for no legal reason. In March of 1965, Dr. King was arrested for leading an illegal boycott. When witnesses testified that city bus drivers mistreated the black passengers, the judge did not believe them, and found Dr. King guilty. But Dr. King did not give up. He said, “We will continue to protest in the same spirit of nonviolence and passive resistance, using the weapon of love.”[1]
The boycott continued until December 1956. By then, the city of Montgomery finally realized that it could not afford to lose money from its black passengers. The bus line had already lost so much money that it had to increase its fares from 10 cents to 15 cents.[2] In addition, people all over the country showed their support for the boycotters by collecting money, holding prayer meetings, and holding nonviolent protests of their own.
Soon, the issue of segregation on public transportation went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of desegregation and struck down all of the laws that segregated the public buses. This brought Dr. King’s strategy of nonviolent protest into the public eye. People saw that protesting unjust laws without using violence could indeed change the law.
The Great Experiment of Nonviolent Protest
Things to Consider:
Is it okay to break a law if you think it is wrong, or is it more important to obey the law? Do you think Rosa Parks was right to refuse to give up her seat?
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was nonviolent and did not hurt anyone, but it still caused a great impact because of money and visibility. When people didn’t pay for bus tickets, the city lost a lot of money. Also, when people walked to work for miles and miles every day, the newspapers and the people of Montgomery noticed. Can you think of other actions that do not hurt anyone but might increase visibility for something you care about?
When someone bombed Dr. King’s house, he still did not want anyone to be violent in return. What do you think is more important, to make sure that the person who bombed Dr. King’s house was punished, or to make sure that the protests stayed nonviolent and focused only on change?
[1] Wayne Phillips, “Negro Minister Convicted of Directing Bus Boycott,” New York Times, Marcy 23, 2956.
[2] Ed Townsend, “Desegregated Busses Run in Alabama—Union Drive Fizzles in South,” Christian Science Monitor, April 24, 1956.
