On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks, a seamstress and local secretary for the NAACP ( National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. . Rosa Parks was arrested for violating a Montgomery city law in Alabama, United States. The imprisonment of Rosa Parks was the trigger for a crucial and key action in the fight for black civil rights in the United States: the transportation boycott in Montgomery.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had formally abolished slavery in 1865, but the rules that included racial discrimination continued in force, adapting to the new reality. It was the case of the Black Codes, the Black Codes, a set of rules issued by state governments, locally valid, which limited the rights of blacks. They began to be implemented in the 1830s and were in force in many cases until well into the 20th century, when the civil rights movement managed to have them abolished. The Black Codes were in practice a way to legalize racial discrimination; they limited the political participation of the black population, controlled their work and activities, limited the movements of those who had been slaves, and even established debt servitude. Control of the work of former slaves was established through fines and corporal punishment, in order to ensure cheap labor for whites. The first state to adopt these standards was Texas, in 1866, which was followed by other states in the southern United States. Later, the Black Codes expanded their scope to topics such as the right to vote, the use of public facilities, access to education and many other social issues that were even incorporated into legislation through the set of laws known as “the Jim Crow laws’, upheld by a US Supreme Court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson.
Under these laws, blacks could not use the same public facilities and services as whites, and businesses had the right not to serve black citizens. In Montgomery, whites entered the buses through the front doors and occupied the seats in the front section, while blacks had to sit in the back, and could not occupy the same row of seats as a white passenger. Therefore, if a white person boarded the public transport and there were no free seats for a whole row of black passengers, he had to stand up so that the white person could sit down. This discriminatory regulation against blacks had already led to the imprisonment of three black women who refused to comply before Rosa Parks. They were Claudette Colvin,
Timeline of the bus boycott in Montgomery
The year is 1954. Professor Jo Ann Robinson, president of the Women’s Political Council (WPC ) , meets with Montgomery city officials to discuss changes to the bus system, ie segregation. The WPC was an organization founded in Montgomery in 1943 to fight for the civil rights of the black community.
March 1955. On March 2, Claudette Colvin, a fifteen-year-old girl, is arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. Claudette Colvin is charged with assault, disorderly conduct and violation of segregation laws.
During the month of March, local leaders of black citizen organizations meet with Montgomery city administrators to discuss the issue of segregation in public transportation. Edgar Daniel Nixon, local president of the NAACP, and the secretary, Rosa Parks, together with Martin Luther King, participate in the meetings. Claudette Colvin’s jailing has not yet inflamed the anger of Montgomery’s black community, and their organizations are not calling for a boycott.
October 1955. On October 21, eighteen-year-old Mary Louise Smith is arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus to a white passenger.
December 1955. On December 1, Rosa Parks is arrested for not allowing a white man to sit in her seat on the bus. The next day the WPC launches the idea of boycotting the use of buses. Jo Ann Robinson prints and distributes flyers to the black community in Montgomery about the Rosa Parks case, calling for a boycott on December 5.
On December 5 the boycott begins and almost all members of the black community of Montgomery participate. The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) is formed, in which Jo Ann Robinson participates along with Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy, who are the pastors of two of the largest black community churches in Montgomery. Martin Luther King is appointed president of the MIA.
On December 8, MIA submitted a list of demands to Montgomery city officials. Local officials refuse to desegregate the buses.
On December 13, the MIA creates a vehicle sharing system for citizens participating in the boycott.
January 1956. Martin Luther King’s home is bombed on January 30; the next day the house of Edgar Daniel Nixon is also attacked.
February 1956. On February 21, more than 80 boycott leaders were indicted for conspiracy, under Alabama law. Martin Luther King is condemned as boycott leader; he is sentenced to pay $500 or serve 386 days in jail.
June 1956. On June 5, segregation on buses was declared unconstitutional by a federal district court.
November 1956. On November 13, the United States Supreme Court upheld the district court ruling and struck down laws that allowed racial segregation on public transportation. However, the MIA decides not to end the boycott until the desegregation of buses is officially enacted.
December 1956. On December 20, the Supreme Court’s ruling on segregation in public transportation is delivered to Montgomery city officials. The next day the Montgomery buses desegregate and the MIA ends the boycott.
Two days after the desegregation of public transport, Martin Luther King’s house was attacked again, this time with a shot at the door. The next day a group of white men assaulted a black teenager who was getting off a bus. Shortly after, two buses were shot at, and a pregnant woman was wounded in both legs.
In January 1957, five churches in the black community were bombed, as was the home of Robert S. Graetz, a white Lutheran pastor who had supported the actions of the MIA. Because of the unleashed violence, city officials suspended public transportation service for several weeks.
Sources
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Rosa Parks . Accessed November 2021.
Rosa Parks, tired of giving up . Accessed November 2021.
