Montgomery Alabama Civil Rights Movement

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Pages: 5

Civil Rights in Alabama Civil rights has been an issue in the U.S. since slavery was abolished by president Lincoln. However from 1953-1956 in Montgomery Alabama, the black community decided to go against racial segregation via bus boycotts. Now bus boycotting doesn’t sound like a significant civil rights move, but as you read my essay you will see how effective this was. Without this event, African American rights within the U.S. may not be the same as they are today. The yearlong span that the Montgomery boycotts took place, which included about 50,000 African Americans, had been in the works long before its initial start in December of 1955. In that year, in Montgomery and across the U.S., it was illegal for African Americans to sit in …show more content…
The first two arrests didn’t move the black community to initiate the boycott. The third, and most famous, woman to refuse her seat to be given up was Rosa Parks. Because Rosa was such a well known figure in Montgomery to the black community, her arrest sparked the bus boycott (Sigmond, 2). As result of Parks’ arrest the leader of the WPC called for a one-day boycott of the public bus system within Montgomery in December of 1955. The WPC distributed leaflets to the black citizens within Montgomery. Rosa got bailed out of jail by the same man, E.D. Nixon, that organized the first Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters meeting. The BSCP was a collection of African American leaders that got together to support the bus boycott of 56’. At this meeting, the BSCP agreed to pass over leadership of this boycott to the MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association)(Sigmond, 2). Martin Luther King became the organizations president. That night the MIA held a meeting, which thousands of Montgomery citizens of the black community attended, at Holt Street Baptist Church. Those who were present voted to proceed with the …show more content…
His options were to pay $500 dollars for spend 386 days in jail. The national coverage of this trial had gained support for the boycott from people across the country. Later that year, the NAACP issued a suit in Federal District Court questioning if the Montgomery’s segregated busses was constitutional. In a 2 to 1 decision the District Court found that segregated busses was unconstitutional. The city of Montgomery and the state of Alabama immediately announced an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, thereby delaying the implementation of the ruling (Sigmond, 3). In November of 1956, news from Washington came that the Supreme Court had confirmed that segregation on city busses was unconstitutional. This greatly assisted the Montgomery Boycott and hope began the run through the African American community. An executive of the MIA came to a conclusion to end the boycott after the Supreme Court ruling, but, he encouraged blacks in Montgomery to stay off the city buses until the Court order was official in the city. Mass meetings within the black community approved with the leader of the MIA. Low and behold they would have to wait another five weeks until the ruling reached