Montgomery,+Alabama

It all started back in 4th grade, when I first learned about the black movement. Now I know that not many 4th graders would find that kind of stuff fascinating, but I did. I thought it was amazing of how the black people of Montgomery stood up for themselves and fought for what they wanted even with the law running against them. How that even after homes were bombed, hundreds of people arrested, and being stripped of some of their constitutional rights, they still fought for what they wanted. I thought they were so amazing because they stood up to the law the way they did, because when I was in 4th grade I couldn’t even stand up to my mom let alone the cold hard law.


 * When did the Montgomery Bus Boycott start?**

The Montgomery Bus Boycott officially started on December 1, 1955. That was the day when the blacks of Montgomery, Al. decided that they would rise up and take on the Montgomery bus segregations laws and boycott the city buses until they could sit anywhere they wanted, instead of being regulated to the back of the bus whenever a white person boarded (Cozzen).


 * When and why did the Bus Boycott stop?**

It all started with the arrest of Rosa Parks in December 1955. When a man named E.D. Nixon went and sa her in jail and told her, “Mrs. Parks, with your permission we can break down segregation on the buses with your case.” She talked in over with her husband and mother, then agreed ("Montgomery").

In 1956, the US. Supreme court upheld a lower court ruling that said states could in pose segregation as long as ‘separate but equal’ faculties were provided to each racial group. In the south, things were different, so-called ‘Jim Crow’ laws discriminated against blacks and forced segregation of public facilities, such as schools, train stations, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, hospitals, and even public water fountains. But by the 1950`s the black people were getting sick of it, so they took it to the US. Supreme court, which ruled the laws to be in violation of the constitutions fourteenth amendment ("Montgomery").

You would think the blacks of Montgomery just screamed at the cities leaders to give them justice and equal rights, well, they did that too but they also tried to negotiate a settlement with them. Which included three demands, (1) Courteous treatment of passengers, (2) Hiring of black drivers on routes serving mainly black communities, and (3) First come first serve seating on buses, so that no black would ever give up his or her seat to a white passenger. It was a modest proposal, though the cities leader rejected it all together ("Montgomery").
 * What did the Black people want and what did the whites do to prevent it?**

In court, the city defended segregation by saying that integregation would lead to violence, which then Judge Rivers asked, “ Is it fair to command one man to surrender his constitutional rights, if they are his constitutional right, in order to prevent another man from committing a crime?” They didn’t know what to say to that (Cozzen).

Even with all the pressure, the blacks did not back down, and when they didn’t the whites turned violent. Kings home was bombed January 30th and E.D. Nixon`s home was bombed February 1st, 1956. The KKK also tried to scare the backs into backing down but, “it seems to have lost its spell”, King wrote “One cold night a small negro boy was seen warming his hands at a burning cross.” The integragation of the Bus Boycott were ultimately successful (Cozzen).


 * Works Cited**


 * "Kingslegacylivesinhiswords,meoriesofthosewholivedduringtumultoustime." Dothan Eagle [Dothan, AL] 18 Jan.2009.Student eddition.Web.3 Mar.2011.
 * "MontgomeryBusBoycott,1955." StudentResourceCenter.Detroit:Gale,2010.StudentResourseCenter-Gold.Web.1 Mar.2011
 * Cozzens,lisa.TheMontgomeryBusboycottlastmodified Mon June 29,1989.Web.http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html