montgomery bus boycott 1955

In Montgomery, Alabama, front seats in buses were for Whites only. If the

White section was full then Blacks people had to give up their seats for

their White superiors.

1st December 1955, Rosa Parks was sitting in the Black section of a bus…

Rosa refused to move. The police arrested her.

It’s full at the front. I want to sit down. You

move!

No! I’ve been

standing up all day

• Rosa Parks was an active member of the NAACP• Her refusal to give up her seat had been planned by

local Civil Rights leaders

• Black leaders and church ministers met to discuss the issue

• Martin Luther King decided to organise a protest• Monday 5 December - all Black people were asked

not to use the buses (bus boycott)• That Monday the buses all over town were empty

Don’t ride the buses!

Take a cab, share a ride or walk

Don’t ride the buses!They need usMore than we need them!

• Martin Luther King was elected President of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)

• He inspired the Black population to keep pressure up for their Civil Rights

There comes a time when people get tired – tired of being

segregated and humiliated: tired of being kicked about by the brutal feet of oppression

The boycott continued despite death threats to Martin Luther King

• The boycott lasted for 381 days• Blacks had made up 70% of the passengers• Without Black passengers the bus companies lost money• Blacks people pooled or shared cars• Police tried to stop then car sharing and many were

arrested for doing so.

• In December 1956 buses in Montgomery were officially desegregated by the courts

• Bus companies had started to desegregate anyway – couldn’t afford not to

• Showed what could be achieved by organised peaceful protest

• Showed the economic power of the Blacks• Martin Luther King became the new Civil Rights

Movement leader• SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

established in 1957. MLK elected president.

Effects of the Boycott

• Montgomery still segregated town• The battle for desegregation continued…..

Effects of the Boycott

Effective because…• Economic power of blacks• Desegregation of buses in

Montgomery• Non-violent protest worked• MLK’s leadership

Ineffective because…• Desegregation happened only in

Montgomery on buses• Tremendous white opposition

throughout the boycott• Long, drawn-out process • Civil rights campaign has to continue