Analytical Perspective: Montgomery Bus Boycott

Analytical Perspective: Montgomery Bus Boycott

Background

Due to the Jim Crow laws enforced in many southern states, the bus system in many of these states were segregated, with the white passengers being able to sit at the front of the bus (and the majority of the bus). The ‘coloured’ passengers had to sit at the back of the bus, entering from a different door than that of the whites. This was especially true in the bus ring of Montgomery, Alabama. This was tiring for the black population who had to use the public transport to get to their jobs.

Actual Events

On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks sparked the beginning of the boycott of the Montgomery buses, and the beginning of the civil rights movement as a real, tangible force. By sitting in

Black cab drivers lowered their prices to 10 cents (Price of a bus ticket) for protestors.

For 13 months the boycott continued, until in June 1956 the leaders appealed to the Supreme Court and by 21st December 1956, the buses were desegregated.

Significances

The Montgomery Bus boycott was the beginning of the civil rights movements throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, with the ramifications of this one small act snowballing into a movement that brought about the end of the Jim Crow laws across the United States, and a betterment of African-American standings in their own country.

The process of desegregation was set into motion in the south, though it was majorly forced upon the bus companies due to the supreme court ruling and financial protest from the boycott.

It was also the first major protest organised by the unofficial head of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. It also saw his rise to prominence as a leader and speaker, which allowed him to be able to speak his famous speech “I have a

Leadership perspective: Edgar Nixon

Background

Born July 12, 1899 Alabama, Edgar grew up in a single parent home, with his mother dying when he was a boy. He found work as Pullman porter, a kind of porter (baggage handler for trains) for sleeping/overnight train rides. Because the typical Pullman porter was black, the position originating after the civil war with freed slaves taking the position. Nixon became a member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, or BSCP, which was an African-American union.

Motivation

Due to the inspiration of the BSCP president A. Philip Randolph, Nixon became an active member of the union, becoming the president of the Alabama branch. He even began a budding friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. He was integral to organising the Montgomery Voters League, which saw 700 people march on the Montgomery County Municipal Court House to protest the unfair practises that kept African-Americans from registering to vote. It was around this time that he was elected to be the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured Peoples’ (NAACP) Montgomery branch. He soon became the president of the Alabama branch of the NAACP.