Montgomery bus boycott Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Background== {{See also|History of civil rights in the United States|Civil rights movement (1865β1896)|Civil rights movement (1896β1954)}} Before the bus boycott, [[Jim Crow laws]] mandated the [[racial segregation]] of the Montgomery Bus Line. As a result of this segregation, African Americans were not hired as drivers, were forced to ride in the back of the bus, and were frequently ordered to surrender their seats to [[white people]] even though black passengers made up 75% of the bus system's riders.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQlvBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA807 |title=Race and Racism in the United States: An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic |editor-first=Charles A. |editor-last=Gallagher |editor-first2=Cameron D. |editor-last2=Lippard |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2014 |page=807 |isbn=9781440803468 }}</ref> Many bus drivers treated their black passengers poorly beyond the law: African-Americans were assaulted, [[wikt:shortchange|<span title="given back less change than necessary>shortchanged</span>]], and left stranded after paying their fares.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFI7tr9XK6EC&pg=PA396 |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Volume 1 |editor-first=Bonnie G. |editor-last=Smith |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |page=396 |isbn=9780195148909 }}</ref> The year before the bus boycott began, the [[The Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] decided unanimously, in the case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. The reaction by the white population of the Deep South was "noisy and stubborn".<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCloskey |first1=Robert G. |last2=Levinson |first2=Sanford |title=''The American Supreme Court'' |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |year=2010 |edition=5th |isbn=978-0-226-55686-4 |page=144}}</ref> Discontented white southerners joined the [[Citizens' Councils|White Citizens' Council]] as a result of the decision.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lipsitz |first=George |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/708094574 |title=How racism takes place |date=2011 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-4399-0257-8 |location=Philadelphia |oclc=708094574}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Social-Psychological Origins of the Montgomery Bus Boycott: Social Interaction and Humiliation in the Emergence of Social Movements |journal=Mobilization: An International Quarterly |year=2013 |volume=18 |doi=10.17813/maiq.18.2.83123352476r2x82 |last1=Shultziner |first1=Doron |issue=2 |pages=117β142}}</ref> Although it is often framed as the start of the [[civil rights movement]], the boycott occurred at the end of many black communities' struggles in the South to protect black women, such as [[Recy Taylor]], from racial violence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McGuire|first=Danielle L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/503042152|title=At the dark end of the street: black women, rape, and resistance- a new history of the civil rights movement from Rosa Parks to the rise of black power|date=2010|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|isbn=978-0-307-26906-5|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=xviii|oclc=503042152}}</ref> The boycott also took place within a larger statewide and national movement for civil rights, including court cases such as ''[[Morgan v. Virginia]]'', the earlier [[Baton Rouge bus boycott]], and the arrest of [[Claudette Colvin]], among others, for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. === Previous transport and bus boycotts in the United States === {{See also|Transport and bus boycotts in the United States}} In 1841 [[Frederick Douglass]] and his friend [[James N. Buffum]] entered a train car reserved for white passengers in Lynn, Massachusetts, when the conductor ordered them to leave the car, they refused. Following the action, widespread organizing led Congress to approve the [[Civil Rights Act of 1875]] which grant equal rights to Black citizens in public accommodations. In 1883 the Supreme Court overturned this victory declaring it unconstitutional.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Transportation Protests: 1841 - 1992|url=https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/desegregation/transportation-protests|access-date=2021-08-24|website=Civil Rights Teaching|language=en-US}}</ref> === Rape of Recy Taylor === {{Main|Recy Taylor}} On September 3, 1944, [[Recy Taylor]], a black woman, was raped by six white men in [[Abbeville, Alabama]].<ref name=mcguire>{{Cite book |last=McGuire |first=Danielle L. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/503042152 |title=At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance{{emdash}}A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power |date=2010 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=978-0-307-26906-5 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=503042152}}</ref>{{rp|xvβxvii}} After investigating her case, [[Rosa Parks]]{{emdash}}along with [[E. D. Nixon]], [[Rufus Lewis (activist)|Rufus A. Lewis]], and E. G. Jackson{{emdash}}organized a defense for Taylor in Montgomery. They mobilized nationwide support from labor unions, African-American organizations, and women's groups to form the [[The Committee for Equal Justice|Alabama Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor]].<ref name=mcguire />{{rp|15}} Although they did not succeed in obtaining justice in court for Taylor, the mobilization of the black community in Alabama set up social and political networks that enabled the success of the Montgomery bus boycott a decade later.<ref name=mcguire />{{rp|46β47}} ===''Morgan v. Virginia'' decision=== {{Main|Morgan v. Virginia}} The [[NAACP|National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) had accepted and litigated other cases, including that of [[Irene Morgan]] in 1946, which resulted in a victory in the Supreme Court on the grounds that segregated interstate bus lines violated the [[Commerce Clause]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/road/s19.cfm |title=The Road to Civil Rights: Journey of Reconciliation |author=''[[United States Department of Transportation]]'' ''[[Federal Highway Administration]]'' |publisher=dot.gov |date=October 17, 2013}}</ref> That victory, however, overturned state segregation laws only insofar as they applied to travel in interstate commerce, such as interstate bus travel,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_morgan.html |title=The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: MORGAN v. Virginia (1946) |author=Public Broadcasting Service |publisher=pbs.org |year=2002 |author-link=Public Broadcasting Service}}</ref> and Southern bus companies immediately circumvented the ''Morgan'' ruling by instituting their own [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow regulations]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pl409yBEjfsC&pg=PA103 |title=Justice Older Than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree |first1=Katie |last1=McCabe |first2=Dovey Johnson |last2=Roundtree |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |isbn=978-1617031212 |page=103 |year=2009}}</ref> Further incidents continued to take place in Montgomery, including the arrest of [[Lillie Mae Bradford]] for disorderly conduct in May 1951 for allegedly refusing to leave the white passengers' section until the bus driver amended an incorrect charge on her transfer ticket.<ref name=borger>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/04/usa.julianborger |title=Civil rights heroes may get pardons |first=Julian |last=Borger |date=April 3, 2006 |access-date=March 23, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> ===Baton Rouge bus boycott=== {{Main|Baton Rouge bus boycott}} On February 25, 1953, the [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]], city-parish council passed Ordinance 222 after the city saw protesting from African Americans when the council raised the city's bus fares.<ref name="LSU">{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.lsu.edu/sites/all/files/sc/exhibits/e-exhibits/boycott/index.html |title=Baton Rouge Bus Boycott |author=Dr. Mary Price |author2=Louisiana State University |publisher=lsu.edu |date=December 1, 2013 |author2-link=Louisiana State University}}</ref> The ordinance abolished race-based reserved seating requirements and allowed the admission of African Americans in the front sections of city buses if there were no white passengers present, but it still required African Americans to enter from the rear rather than the front of the buses.<ref name="Swarthmore">{{cite web |url=http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/african-american-passengers-boycott-segregated-buses-baton-rouge-1953 |title=African American passengers boycott segregated buses in Baton Rouge, 1953 |author=Julio Alicea |author2=Swarthmore College |publisher=swarthmore.edu |date=December 9, 2010 |author2-link=Swarthmore College}}</ref> However, the ordinance was largely unenforced by the city bus drivers. The drivers later went on strike after city authorities refused to arrest Rev. [[T. J. Jemison]] for sitting in a front row.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLjYbzkGWk8C&pg=PA66 |title=The Jim Crow Encyclopedia: Greenwood Milestones in African-American History |author=Nikki L. M. Brown, Barry M. Stentiford |isbn=978-0313341816 |page=66 |year=2008|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> Four days after the strike began, [[Attorney General of Louisiana|Louisiana Attorney General]] and former [[Baton Rouge]] mayor [[Fred S. LeBlanc]] declared the ordinance unconstitutional under Louisiana state law.<ref name="Swarthmore"/> This led Rev. Jemison to organize what historians believe to be the first bus boycott of the civil rights movement.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1304163 |title=The First Civil Rights Bus Boycott |author=Debbie Elliott |author2=National Public Radio |publisher=NPR |date=June 19, 2003 |author2-link=National Public Radio}}</ref> The boycott ended after eight days when an agreement was reached to only retain the first two front and back rows as racially reserved seating.<ref name="LSU"/> ===Arrest of Claudette Colvin=== {{Main|Claudette Colvin}} Black activists had begun to build a case to challenge state bus segregation laws around the arrest of 15-year-old [[Claudette Colvin]], a student at [[Booker T. Washington School (Montgomery, Alabama)|Booker T. Washington High School]] in Montgomery. On March 2, 1955, Colvin was handcuffed, arrested, and forcibly removed from a public bus when she refused to give up her seat to a white man. At the time, Colvin was an active member in the [[NAACP Youth Council]], where Rosa Parks was an advisor.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://beck.library.emory.edu/southernchanges/article.php?id=sc07-5_006 |title=The Origins of the Montgomery Bus Boycott |first=David J. |last=Garrow |journal=[[Southern Regional Council|Journal of the Southern Regional Council]] |volume=7 |issue=5 |page=24 |publisher=[[Emory University]] |year=1985 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714210519/http://beck.library.emory.edu/southernchanges/article.php?id=sc07-5_006 |archive-date=July 14, 2010}}</ref> Colvin's legal case formed the core of ''[[Browder v. Gayle]]'', which ended the Montgomery bus boycott when the Supreme Court ruled on it in December 1956. === Murder of Emmett Till; trial and acquittal of the accused === {{Main|Emmett Till}} In August 1955, four months before Parks's refusal to give up a seat on the bus that led to the Montgomery bus boycott, a 14-year-old African American from Chicago named [[Emmett Till]] was murdered by two white men, John W. Milam and Roy Bryant. The picture of his brutally beaten body in the open-casket funeral that his mother requested was widely publicized, specifically by the weekly newspaper ''Jet'', which circulated in much of the black community in the North. His accused killers were acquitted the following month. There was massive outrage at this verdict both domestically and internationally. In an interview on January 24, 1956, published in ''Look'' magazine, the two men admitted to murdering Till.<ref>{{cite book |title=Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case |last=Crowe, Chris. |date=2003 |publisher=Phyllis Fogelman Books |isbn=0803728042 |location=New York |oclc=49699347}}</ref> ===''Keys v. Carolina Coach Co.'' decision=== {{Main|Keys v. Carolina Coach Co.}} In November 1955, three weeks before Parks's defiance of Jim Crow laws in Montgomery, the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC), in response to a complaint filed by [[Women's Army Corps]] Private Sarah Keys, closed the legal loophole left by the ''Morgan'' ruling in a landmark case known as ''[[Keys v. Carolina Coach Co.]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/11/07/remembering-sarah-keys/ |title=Remembering Sarah Keys |first=Alison |last=Shay |author2=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |publisher=unc.edu |date=November 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203000309/https://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/11/07/remembering-sarah-keys/ |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |author2-link=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill}}</ref> The ICC prohibited individual carriers from imposing their own segregation rules on interstate travelers, declaring that to do so was a violation of the anti-discrimination provision of the [[Interstate Commerce Act]]. However, neither the Supreme Court's ''Morgan'' ruling nor the ICC's ''Keys'' ruling addressed the matter of Jim Crow travel within the individual states.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jim Crow Barred in Interstate Bus |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/race/060446race-ra.html |access-date=January 22, 2021 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page