Dec. 1 1955 Rosa Parks, a black seamstress in Montgomery, AL, refused to give up her seat to a white man.

[Valin]

Montgomery Bus Boycott

 

The Montgomery Bus Boycott started in December 1955. What happened in Montgomery is seen as a pivotal point in the whole civil rights story and brought to prominence a seamstress called Rosa Parks.

 

 

The structure of southern society pre-1955 ensured that black Americans were very much second class citizens. Southern states had white only restaurants, white only rest zones in bus centres etc. In Montgomery, Alabama, buses were segregated (as was common elsewhere in the South) with specific areas on a bus reserved for white customers and other seats for black customers.

 

The story behind the bus boycott seems simple – yet, as always, there is more to the story than first appears. After a full day’s work, Rosa Parks got a bus home. The bus was ‘full’ in the sense that all the seats for white Americans were in use. Parks was seated in a seat for black Americans. A white man got on board and found that all the ‘white’ seats were full. The bus driver told four black Americans to move further down the bus. Three complied but Parks refused to give up her seat and was arrested.

 

In protest, a boycott of the buses by black Americans in Montgomery began. It was probably the first example of the economic clout that the community had because eventually, the bus company had to desegregate their buses or face serious financial difficulties as very many black Americans used the buses. Without their economic input via fares, the bus company of Montgomery faced probable bankruptcy.

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

 

 

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Unfortunately some people still think its Dec. 1 1955. They really should look at a calender.