Bus+Segregation+Issues


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=__Segregational Bus Issues__=

The Montgomery Bus Boycott took place in Montgomery, Alabama and was started on December 5, 1955. Rosa Parks was inspired by her childhood and Claudette Colvin. She didn't believe in the segregation laws on the buses. She wanted to change these laws so she stood up for her rights. One day, Rosa Parks was boarding a bus and recognized the driver from 12 years earlier; he had left her stranded. When a white man boarded the bus and she was asked to move, she jumped at this chance to stand up for her rights. She refused to move and for this she was arrested. Parks was bailed out of jail that night and was asked to come to court that Monday. JoAnn Robinson, a member of the NAACP, spread the word of the boycott that Monday. That Monday, no blacks were on the buses in Montgomery, Alabama. The boycott worked and it remained in play for over a year. The reason that the boycott was successful was because 75% of the bus riders were black, when the black citizens stayed off the buses, the buses did not have enough money to run. The case went to the Supreme Court and won the right for blacks to sit where they pleased. It desegregated the buses. This is where the Freedom Riders came into play. All along, they fought to get the buses desegregated and after the case won, they went on a little ride to see that this law was in play. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful.

One of the main issues in the Civil Rights Movement was segregation in public places. The segregation in buses, trains, and work place s was awful. There was violence and arrests when black citizens stuck up for their own rights. On buses and trains, the blacks were supposed to sit in the back and the whites were supposed to get the seats in front. Many blacks thought this was unfair and wanted to do something about it. One of these people was Claudette Colvin. As a 15 year old, Claudette Colvin had a lot of passion for her rights. She attended Booker T. Washington High School and went on the bus almost everyday. She experienced being pushed, having to stand, being stranded when she had to move back, and even violence. One day while on the bus, she got the chance to try to make a difference. She got on the bus and sat down; it was just like any other day. When the bus got crowded and more white passengers boarded, the white bus driver asked the blacks that were closest to the front to stand up. This is when Colvin made her move; she actually stayed right where she was. This angered the bus driver and the other passengers on the bus. The blacks weren't supposed to refuse, the whites thought that the blacks were inferior and would do anything the whites wanted, that is where they were wrong. If the blacks really wanted it, they were going to get it. Colvin was arrested but bailed out that same night. As many people saw it, she didn't make much of an impact. Others thought that her courage was the spark of the Civil Rights Movement.

Another "mother of the movement" was Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks had some trouble with a specific bus driver 12 years earlier. The bus driver told her to move to the back of the bus, when she got off to go in the "black door", he drove away and left her there. When boarding the bus one day, the driver stood out to Rosa Parks. She recognized him from her fiasco twelve years before. It was time for some revenge. She didn't think much about it when she sat down near the front. At the next stop, white passengers loaded. The driver asked the blacks nearest the front to either move back or stand up; although Parks hadn't made her whole plan clear to herself, she knew right away that this was it. She simply refused; that was much harder than it sounds. The driver tried to move her but ended up calling the police; this did not affect Parks, she kept right on going. The police arrested her and put her in jail. She was bailed out that night but that quick decision was the start of something big. Parks was asked to attend court on Monday, December 5, 1955. The word was spread about this trial and it came around that no blacks would ride the buses on this day. It was successful, when that Monday came around there were almost no blacks on the buses. The NAACP decided to keep it going. The boycott lasted and was successful for over a year (December 5, 1955 - December 20, 1956). During the boycott, many of the buses had to stop running; they did not have enough money to keep the buses running. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and Rosa Parks was represented by the NAACP and MIA. Parks won; she won her rights to the buses and all the other blacks around the country. It was won, but were the drivers following "the rules"? A group called the Freedom Riders went to check the laws out.

//Lindsey Purpura//

Jackie Robinson Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr. Claudette Colvin

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