Pilgrimage To Nonviolence: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. The law said that black people had to sit in the back of the bus while the the white people sat in the front. Bus drivers often referred to black people on the bus as nigger, black cow, or black ape. Blacks had to pay in the front of the bus and they had to get off to go threw the side door to sit in the back.

“For many years now Negroes in Montgomery and so many other areas have been inflicted with the paralysis of crippling fears on buses in our community. On so many occasions, Negroes have been intimidated and humiliated and impressed-oppressed-because of the sheer fact that they were Negroes.”

One of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s most influential actions was leading the non-violent Montgomery Negro bus boycott. The boycott resulted after Rosa Parks, an African American woman refused to move to the back of the bus. The article, “Grand Jury Indictments Sement Group Solidarity to Fight for Their Rights” written in March 1956 explains that some of the men part of this boycott were indicted by the grand jury to investigate the boycott. The article states, “dedicating themselves to mass movement of passive resistance using only the weapon of love, Montgomery Negro bus boycott leaders promised this week that nothing will change in the 12-week-old protest even though nearly 100 of them face possible jail sentence for their part in the boycott

In 1956, the Montgomery bus boycott became one of the foundational elements that led to the end of racial segregation in the United States. As African Americans refused to ride public buses without equality, the economic structure of Montgomery, Alabama, was wrenched. This caused an immense amount of public attention, which showed that “[i]n particular, the [Montgomery] boycott gave Martin Luther King a position of leadership within the national movement and showed that the nonviolent method of protest was effective” (“Montgomery Bus Boycott”). Subsequent to the Montgomery bus boycott, a statement was immediately composed in connection with how effective peaceful protest could be. Over time, the approach to peaceful protests has altered immensely. A majority of the peaceful protests have become increasingly effective because of the demographic, disruption of public transportation, and the public venue in which they are held due to the astonishing amount of attention drawn by the public.

Montgomery bus boycott occurred for the reason that Rosa Parks denied orders from a bus driver. Finding her mortified she was charged with a “10.00 fine” and “assessed court fee”. As Martin felt like they had to “protest” for the actions and outcomes things happening. He claimed “we have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from the patience that make us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.” Knowing there were people who didn’t like him didn’t stop him from fighting, it was the people who had faith in him that kept Martin moving forward. Being a brave soldier isn’t always easy, the only way for equal rights you have to put up a fight.

Martin Luther King, Jr. chose to use peaceful protests, one of them being the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56. “The boycott proved to be effective, causing the transit system to run a huge deficit.” This boycott was successful and caused the bus transportation system to have a huge downfall. A boycott is an act of voluntary and intentional abstention from using, buying, or dealing with

One of the protests included the Montgomery Bus Boycott which was where the African Americans refused to ride the buses and instead walked, rode their bikes, or carpooled causing the bus company to lose thousands of dollars. Their civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance proved to be effective when the Supreme Court declared segregated busing was unconstitutional on November 23rd, 1956. This boycott demonstrated African American strength and determination to end segregation because it showed that they would rather fight for what they believed in instead of riding the buses. Martin Luther King Jr’s philosophy of nonviolence was put to test during the Birmingham campaign of 1963. Nonviolent marches, sit-ins, and pray-ins launched in Birmingham, the most rigidly segregated city in America.

On December 1, 1955, Ms. Parks was traveling on the bus after a long day of work when the driver of that bus asked her to give her seat to a white passenger. Parks’ unwillingness to give up her seat did land her in jail. After a few hours being in jail, Parks’ was allowed to leave with a bond. That was when the African American people started to boycott Montgomery's bus to protest her unfair arrest. The month they started the movement was winter, which made it hard on the people having to walk every day to work. However, it was not just the people going through some hardened time because the bus company did experience

One of the protests included the Montgomery Bus Boycott which was where the African Americans refused to ride the buses and instead walked, rode their bikes, or carpooled causing the bus company to lose thousands of dollars. Their civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance proved to be effective when the Supreme Court declared segregated busing was unconstitutional on November 23rd, 1956. This boycott demonstrated African American strength and determination to end segregation because it showed that they would rather fight for what they believed in instead of riding the buses. Martin Luther King Jr’s philosophy of nonviolence was put to test during the Birmingham campaign of 1963. Nonviolent marches, sit-ins, and pray-ins launched in Birmingham, the most rigidly segregated city in America.

Historical events and arguments, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, surround the topic of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing change in legislation or government policy. It is characterized by the use of nonviolent techniques such as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes. For years peaceful-minded protesters have used this practice as a symbolic violation of the law, rather than just rejecting the system as a whole. The employment of passive aggressiveness runs throughout history.

In my opinion peaceful resistance to laws to stand for what you believe in is a good plan if you have a strength to push through the law acting on you and the courts being not in your favor. Rosa Parks portrayed a perfect example of actually sitting down for what she believed in by not giving her seat up for a white person. She ended up being arrested and taking the case all the way up to the u.s. supreme court in a fight for her rights. I think this event overall created a positive impact on free society generally starting the civil rights movement launching the Montgomery Alabama Bus Boycott lead by Parks. Another prime example is Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted into the war. Ali didn't hide or flee when the draft came, he simply stood there and remarking "just take me to jail". As a result in this

In reference to the participation of Assembly with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and its role in funding and providing legal assistance to accept black students seeking "to the State University, the lawsuit charged that the Assembly was" .. damage can not be repaired property and civil rights of the population and the citizens of Alabama criminal prosecution and civil suits for in-law to take any adequate relief "... on the same day that brought the lawsuit, agreed to the circuit Court for an order from one party to limit the Association for doing business in the state or to take the necessary steps to enable it to do

In the late eighteen hundreds, the Reconstruction by Congress was overturned by the Supreme Court. Segregation or separation by skin color was made a law which was adopted by private organizations, institutions and businesses (loc.gov). Physical violence and mental harassment was imposed upon those whom were deemed inferior in color. Some citizens accepted the law, as is, without question while others believed it was their supreme right to remain separate without modification. Human activists, that opposed this way of living, pursued an extensive battle to abolish racial inequity and segregation from American life (loc.gov). During the nineteen hundreds, many understood this treatment as an offense to human beings and activists began

Many events happened because of Martin. One of the most important one's was the Montgomery bus boycott. After Rosa Parks did not want to give her seat to a white male, she was arrested. This caused groups like NAACP and the Women's Political Council to get involved. They made their plans in the basement of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The boycott went well so they planned a second one and chose Martin Luther King Jr. as their president. During this boycott, the bus system lost a lot of income. People tried to stop the boycott by using officially and unofficially methods. Even though it was a rough time for the people, Martin Luther encouraged them to keep going and not to use violence. After a year of hard work the United States Supreme

As said by Rosa Parks,“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right”.This means that when she sat in the front of the bus she was not fearful to get arrested and move because she wanted equal rights.The Civil Rights Movement was a mass popular movement for African Americans equal access to opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of U.S. citizenship. The African Americans were fighting for equal rights, and they wanted to be treated the same as everyone else. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. A boycott is to stop using a product for example, the African Americans boycotted so they could stop riding the buses.The boycott was in Montgomery, Alabama. African Americans wanted to be equal to the whites because they were treated differently than the whites for everything. They wanted to be treated the way whites were being treated.The boycott took place in Alabama in 1955 and ended 1956.The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a successful protest because there were many ways besides the bus for African Americans to get around, the the bus companies lost money, and the protest were covered by the news.