How Did The Montgomery Bus Movement Impact The Civil Rights Movement

In the 1960’s, black and white individuals were not recognized as being equal. The two races were treated differently, and the African Americans did not enjoy the same freedoms as the whites. The African Americans never had a chance to speak their mind, voice their opinions, or enjoy the same luxuries that the white people attained. Through various actions/efforts like the lunch counter sit-ins, freedom rides, and bus boycotts, the black people confronted segregation face on and worked to achieve equality and freedom.

“Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus”- On city busses African Americans had to sit in the back of the bus and give up their seat if asked. Parks refused and was sent to jail for it. She was a strong civil rights activist and

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for not standing and letting a white bus rider take her seat. She was found guilty for disorderly conduct and fined fourteen dollars. The city law stated that all African Americans were to sit in separate rows on the buses. African Americans had to sit in the back rows of the bus because the front rows of the bus were reserved of the white passengers. Rosa was tired of all the horrible treatment her and her fellow African Americans were receiving everyday of their lives.

Mrs. Parks entered the bus, paid her fare, and took a seat in the middle section of the bus. The back of the bus was deemed the "colored section", the front was considered the "white section", and the middle section was for either race, however if a white person needed a seat, the black person was expected to give up their seat immediately. The bus made three stops a white man entered the bus and needed a seat, the three other black got out of their seat immediately, but when the driver ordered Rosa to get up she firmly stated "no", Mrs. Parks once stated that "people always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired of giving in." According to "Rosa Parks", Mrs. Parks had meant to do no more than show one rude bus driver that blacks were being treated unfairly. She wasn't the first black to ever refuse to give up her seat, but her action had consequences. After she refused to give up her seat on the bus, the driver threatened to have her arrested, Mrs. Parks simply stated, "You may do that." The policemen clearly didn't want to arrest her, but law forced them to.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, one of the leaders of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] refused to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, despite being reprimanded by the driver (Schulke 166). Montgomery, Alabama was known for its terrible treatment of blacks. The buses in particular had been a source of tension between the city and black citizens for many years (Schulke, 167). As a result of refusing to give up her seat, Rosa Parks was arrested. Rosa Parks' popularity among the black community, proved to be the spark that ignited the non-violent Civil Rights Movement (Norrell 2).

As a few white passengers boarded the bus and the white sections were already full so the driver shouted back at four black people including Rosa Parks “Move y'all, I want those two seats”. As this demand was made by the driver 3 of the bus riders obeyed to what was shouted back, however Rosa Parks remained in her seat and was determined not to move. She was arrested following the bus drivers order and fined ten dollars. This, however small incited a great wave of bus boycotts which in Montgomery black people chose not to ride the bus for a period of 381 days. This still to date is known as the moment in which the civil rights movement started to gain headway. It was the will of one woman who decided it was time for black people to take a stand and from this point on Martin Luther King was assigned to take this boycott on. Although he was assigned to take this on people also felt as he was young, fresh and people had not formulated enough of an opinion of him, there was little room for him to be hated yet so he posed as the right figure to lead this. After the many days of boycotting the case of this transport issue in Alabama went to the Supreme Court. Here it was decided that segregation was declared as unconstitutional so segregation by law was no

On Thursday evening December 1, 1955, Rosa boards a Montgomery City Bus to go home after a long day working as a seamstress. She walks back to the section for blacks, and takes a seat. The law stated that they could sit there if no White people were standing. Rosa parks never liked segregation rules and has been fighting against them for more than ten years in the NAACP, but until then had never broke any of the unjust rules. As the bus stops at more places, more white people enter the bus, all the seats in the “White Only” section was filled and the bus driver orders Rosa’s row to move to the back of the bus, they all moved, accept Rosa. She was arrested and fined for violating a city regulation. This act of defiance began a movement that ended legal Segregation in America, and made her an inspiration to freedom devoted people everywhere.

On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. In 1943, Parks had paid her fare to a bus driver who told her to get on the bus by its rear door as ‘black’ seats were always in the back, as she moved to the rear door, the bus drove off.

Then background and race in the United States was a big deal, it still is relevant today but not as much. Black’s got treated much worse than whites, they had their own schools, drinking fountains, bathrooms,etc. Meanwhile black public schools got the tiniest bit of money, white schools had much more of it and there schools were in very good condition unlike black schools. If you were black you could of gone to jail for touching a white and you possibly could get sent away your entire life. Supposing that you were not white, not many people would want you around them nor their family. You had more privileges being white than any other race at the time. Activists used, during the Civil Rights movement, multiple strategies that resulted in both successes and failures.

The Jim Crow Laws, which legalized segregation in some southern states, were unfair to African Americans. They were not allowed to ride in the front of the bus, or drink from the same water fountain as white people, or eat at the same restaurants as white people. This discrimination was unfair to the African Americans, so they decided to come together and protest against the Jim Crow Laws and other segregation laws. It was their duty to challenge those unfair laws and take a stand, because they were morally wrong. Ninety percent of African Americans participated in bus boycotts, where no African Americans rode the bus because of Rosa Parks, who wouldn’t give up her seat on the bus to a white person.

President Abraham Lincoln, issued an act after the civil war and called it the Emancipation Proclamation. The only reason why the Civil War was fought and this act was passed is because of the termination of slavery, and African Americans wanted equal rights. Slavery was eventually abolished, but even after one hundred years later, Blacks still did not obtain equal rights. All African Americans didn’t have an option to eat, drink, or use the restroom with whites. In 1955 they had enough with segregation, which had happened because the Civil Rights Movement was started. Blacks were abused, and even died for their cause, but yet they still refused to give up. The African Americans started civil disobedience and nonviolent protests to attempt for changing the minds of the whites that lived in the South. Leaders, that are now famous, took a stand and shared their input of racism to bring change and acceptance. The Famous leaders that we know as heroes are Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks. They risked their lives in the name of equality, but there was still one man that was making a huge difference without being noticed right away, and his name is Berry Gordy Jr.

Considering the history of America, there have been quite a few drastic changes – both good and bad – in the past two centuries, especially for African Americans. From slavery, to unequal rights, there have been several events in history that has created a form of unity for blacks and whites. From those events led by Black Activist and protesters who felt that enough was enough and that it was time to bring about a change birthed the Civil Rights Movement. Although this was not the first movement, it was definitely one that made a lasing impact. Even more specifically the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks made history in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama (Baggett, 2016). Alabama, amongst many other southern states, enforced segregation in public places. Rosa Parks boarded a bus after a long day of work at the local department store and paid the white bus driver her regular fare. The bus was full, as it normally was at this time of day, and Rosa took her seat at the front of the black section of the bus (Sanders, 2006, p. 3). Black passengers were advised to yield to white passengers if the front half of the white section was full. The bus driver began to drive and eventually made another stop at the next station. White passengers began to board the bus and took all the remaining white seats at the front of the bus; however, there was one man left standing. The bus driver asked Rosa and the other passengers beside her to vacate

“Another Negro Woman has been arrested and put in jail because she refused to give up her seat.” This quote was made by the Women’s Political Council telling all Blacks that because an incident occurred with a Black woman, no Blacks could ride buses to work or school. Rosa Parks is one of the most influential African American in history by casually sitting on the bus along with the color of her skin. After Parks name was thrown under the bus by the public, people her kind found her to be right and wanted her to fight for what she wanted. During the Civil Rights movement, Blacks and Whites were separated on every bus.

In 1955 Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested because she refused to move her seat on the bus to accommodate for a white person who wanted to sit there. This was illegal at the time, yet Rosa believed this law to be unjust, so she wouldn't move.