WHY DID THE MOTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT HAPPEN?

The Montgomery bus boycott of December 1955 was one of the first major steps
in the African American civil rights campaign. It was this event that encouraged
many African Americans to rise up in protest against the inequality and
segregation that was wide spread throughout the southern states of America.

It started as a one day boycott of the Montgomery public busses intended to

oppose the city’s policy of segregation on its public transport. The boycott
encouraged African Americans not to use municipally owned transport and
instead walk or use carpools provided by the NACCP and local churches. The
African American’s aspirations were simple, the total desegregation of busses in
Montgomery. What had been planned as a one day boycott of busses ended up
continuing for a year. There had been bus boycotts before in other parts of the
southern states but no one believed it would end up lasting for this amount of
time. In the end the bus companies were becoming bankrupt and were forced to
desegregate busses. This success encouraged many other African Americans to
join the civil rights movement and stand up in protest against the racism and
segregation in the United States.

I will now highlight the key factors that contributed to the Montgomery bus
boycott and from those will suggest why the boycott happened.

• One of these key factors and probably the most important influencing
feature of the Montgomery bus boycott was the social segregation that
was highly prominent throughout the southern states of America. This
segregation caused the majority off African Americans and white
southerners to be separated socially and prompted a great degree of
racial tension between the two races. A prime example off this social
segregation and the spark that set off the civil right campaign was on the
day Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat and was
arrested for breaking the segregation laws that were enforced throughout
the south.

This form of segregation was woven throughout the Southern states and
was most prominently noticeable in education where black and white
children had to attend separate schools. School transport was also only
available to white children and in general the African American youths
received a far lower standard of education. This was challenged in the
Brown vs. The Board of Education (Kentucky) lawsuit which aimed to end
segregation on grounds that the State was not providing equal standards
of education for white and black children. Brown won the court case and
the court ruled that segregation in schools would be ended throughout the
State. This was one of the first successful steps in ending segregation
throughout American and greatly encouraged the NAACP to conduct the
 Montgomery boycott as it showed that it was possible to achieve the goal
through legal and non violent means.

• The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People) had been searching for a test case to challenge the segregation
of busses around Montgomery. There had been previous cases where
Black Americans had been arrested for not surrendering their seats such
as Claudette Colvin a 15 year old student who had been arrested for
refusing to give up her seat to a white person although her case was not
taken up by the NAACP as she became pregnant and it was thought that
this would be damaging to the law suit. On the 1st of December 1955 Rosa
Parks a former secretary of the NAACP and educated seamstress refused
to give up her seat to a young white man. She was promptly arrested and
jailed for breaking the segregation laws. This was the moment the NAACP
had been waiting for and they quickly took action by bailing Rosa Parks
and arranging the boycott with the help of the MIA (Montgomery
Improvement Association). This event was the short term trigger and the
spark that caused the explosion that was to become the Montgomery bus
boycott.

• Another significant factor was the dawning realization, through Black

Americans’ experiences in fighting two world wars, that American allies in
Western Europe promoted completely integrated societies. During these
wars the Black Americans fought with as much self sacrifice as the rest of
the predominantly white army and were in many cases given missions that
would be seen as suicidal, due to the fact that they were thought of as
expendable. Even though they took part in these missions and were
known for many great acts of bravery none were awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor (America’s highest military award). They
felt that they had fought just as valiantly as the other soldiers and should
be rewarded as such. This feeling was further enforced by the lack of
segregation around Europe; they were in many cases treated as equals by
many Europeans. This prompted them to question why they should they
fight wars to end this type of behavior in other countries and then have to
return to it after they have fought the war?

• One of the main contributions to the start of the civil rights movement and
one of the main reasons why the idea of the Montgomery bus boycott
happened was the abolition of slavery and the amendments to the
constitution that in the eyes of the government made all races in America
equal. It was these amendments that were the main points featured in
many civil rights court cases.
 “Amendment XIII

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for

crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate

legislation.”

“Amendment XV

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.”

These amendments seem to make to make all races in the United States
equal and should have been applicable throughout the country. Although
this would have brought about the end to segregation, many of the
Southern states introduced new laws that circumvented their meaning,
while still abiding by the constitution. These laws were commonly known
as the Jim Crow laws (named after a song-and-dance caricature of African
Americans). These laws promulgated a “separate but equal doctrine”. This
meant that African Americans would have all the same rights as whites but
only within their own community. In reality the quality of facilities was
anything but equal and a lack of wealth within their “separate” community
hampered economic growth.

Their chance to oppose these laws was made harder still by the fact that
many states made it difficult for African Americans to vote. This was done
through intimidation, “ridiculing” tests and literacy tests that due to the
inferior education very few blacks were able to pass. This meant that their
ability to protest against these laws was severally hindered and
encouraged them to use other methods to fight against segregation such
as the boycott.

It is interesting to note the parallels between the “separate but equal

doctrine” applied in the Southern states and the policy of Apartheid
(Afrikaans definition: apartness) promoted by the South African
government a few decades later.

In conclusion I believe that these were the key factors that led to the occurrence
of the Montgomery bus boycott. Although without the actions of Rosa Parks
which were the short term trigger that caused the overdue boycott to occur it is
unlikely that the boycott would have been as successful in its outcome and thus
would have not played such a major role in the start of the civil rights movement.