Montgomery Bus Boycott

 On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks a 42-year-old African American woman who worked as a seamstress boarded a Montgomery City bus to go home from work. Mrs. Parks sat in an all white seating section. She was asked why she did it and she simply explained she was tired. Mrs. Parks said she had a feeling that someone was “going to try her” as she stated in an interview. Mrs. Parks was asked to give up her seat by a bus driver and she firmly said no. As the driver asked three more times she peacefully said no she was tired and had a long day at work. The bus driver by law was forced to call the police (Bredhoff). To me Ms. Parks was arrested for an act of courage. To our country at the time she was arrested for breaking Jim Crow laws. I feel like the whole thought of this law was to belittle African Americans. To sit in the front or the back aren't we all still riding the same bus. Mrs. Parks arrest was pointless and inhumane to me.

Rosa's arrest sparked the activist of the African American Community. One in particular well famous Martin Luther King Jr. Many people don't know he was one of the very first people to meet with her after her arrest. Martin’s jail visit with Rosa was a historical moment. That day Mr.King revealed his Bus boycott plan. What many do not know Rosa wasn't to agreeing of the boycott because she didn't want the spotlight on her. Mr. King insists that this was the only way he knew how to respond back peacefully causing no problems (Bredhoff). I am sure Mrs. Parks had no intentions of becoming a civil rights leader. Her jail experience was very short only spending two nights in jail leaving by paying a ten dollar fine and four dollars in court fees (Bredhoff). Her having the support of not just Mr. King but the whole community I am sure made her more relaxed through out the whole experience. 

Martin began spreading the news of the boycott by getting with the WPC (women political council) involved first. They were well connected with spreading the word to others the women political council released a statement saying “Another woman has been arrested and thrown in jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down. It is the second time since the Claudette Colvin case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing. This has to be stopped"(Ford).  Many people don't know that Ms. Parks was not the first person to deny giving up her seat it was actually Claudette Colvin. I wanted to make it clear that this boycott did not just come from Ms. Parks courage. The boycott was long overdue from Ms. Colvin and her actions to.

Mr. King and the whole African American community began not to use any form of public transportation for almost the whole year of 1956 (Ford). I am sure getting to and from work was a challenge for  blacks but that also showed their determination for a change. Whites economically struggled due to blacks not riding the bus the income that public transportation were used to receiving took a major cut.  This is where I believe that whites realized just how much they need blacks to have a successful nation.

The Montgomery boycott has it's given pros and cons. The pros were the effects of the boycott stopped all buses from being segregated and for African Americans to be treated one hundred percent fairly when it came to public transportation.  The cons were two days later Mr. King had gun shots fired at his home after the desegregation on buses. There became wide spread of violence through out Montgomery, Alabama. I personally feel that boycott was a great idea though Mr.King only looked at positive outcomes and not the negative. Teenagers were jumped as soon as they got off the bus who protected them. The African American Community got what they wanted but were they prepared for the effects of there change is what I wonder. Were all of Martins decisions of the people or of him self nobody ever questions that Martin was a wealthy black man after the boycott not rich but wealthy. I think we could have done a better job of protecting our community with maybe a neighborhood watch, phone tree connect anything of that nature because what good is change if your going to be ridiculed for it?

Bredhoff, Stacey, Wynell Schamel, and Lee Ann Potter. "The Arrest Records of Rosa Parks." Social Education 63, 4 (May/June 1999): 207-211.

Ford, Henrey F. "The Story Behind the Bus." The Story Behind the Bus. Copyright © 2002 The Henry Ford, 2 July 2001. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.