Montgomery+Bus+Boycott

By Rose, Merrill, and Anna 5/5/2011 History-3 Montgomery Bus Boycott

To see Voice thread click here: [] Montgomery Bus Boycott

Anna: Today December 1, 1955, was the momentous beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The African Americans claim that they are tired of the segregation and discrimination present in the bus facilities of Montgomery, but the person who really sparked the start of the Montgomery boycott was Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks, a very intelligent black seamstress refused to give up her seat when the white bus driver demanded her too. She was promptly arrested and charged with refusing to obey orders of the bus driver and for openly challenging the racial law of the city. Her courageous feat has raised spirits and proved how determined blacks are to gain their freedom and end segregation. Luckily, we are able to present a first hand account, here it is!

Merrill: I was extremely surprised to see her defying orders. She was braver then I could ever imagine. In addition, she is writing a letter to the Montgomery mayor stating "there has been talk from 25 or more local organizations of planning a city-wide boycott of buses." This plan worries me and various others very much and I don't know how I will get to my job down town. Getting up daily to walk and carpool will be rewarded with freedom.

Rose: Rosa Parks was simply the turning point of the issue of segregation on the Montgomery buses .  The WPC ( Woman's Political Council) a group of experienced African Americans, began in 1946, had already focused on conflict of the segregation on the Montgomery buses, but they failed to create any change. A year later, 15 year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested for defying segregation on a Montgomery bus. Soon after, 18 year old Marie Louise Smith was also arrested for unwillingly moving seats for a white. But both of them, failed to produce a large reaction, unlike Rosa Parks who will make a big change

Merrill: R osa Parks says "  <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px;">Each person must live their life as a model for others". I being a colored person, was very vulnerable to the whites violence. Though this is not the first time that the buses have been boycotted, it seems more determined then the others. An organization called the MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association) organized the boycott and their president, Martin Luther King is becoming an important role in publicizing the horrible truth of segregation.

<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px;">Rose: The bus boycott demonstrated the success for nonviolent mass protest that successfully challenges racial segregation and serves as an example for other southern campaigns that could follow the boycott.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anna: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">In addition, The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) along with other organizations played a gigantic part in tying to end segregation by attempting to form many cases against segregation.This whole subject of the Montgomery bus boycott bring up the conflict of ending segregation and acts as another peak of the Civil Rights movement, but congress has yet to declare segregation unconstitutional.