The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)
Background and Spark
- The boycott was a year-long protest in Montgomery, Alabama, against bus segregation.
- It began on December 1, 1955, after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger.
- Parks was a long-time NAACP activist, trained in nonviolent resistance, and was chosen deliberately as a strong test case.
- Her arrest followed earlier acts of resistance by Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, and Mary Louise Smith.
- The Women’s Political Council, led by Jo Ann Robinson, quickly organized a one-day boycott that expanded into a mass campaign.
- Earlier precedents shaped the movement. Irene Morgan v. Virginia (1946) outlawed segregation on interstate buses, and the 1953 Baton Rouge boycott showed how Black riders could resist.
- These cases did not cover local city transport, where Jim Crow laws still applied.
- Activists like Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall, along with groups such as CORE, had built the legal and strategic groundwork.
- Rosa Parks was chosen strategically by the NAACP and local civil rights leaders as the face of a legal challenge to bus segregation.
- Other Black women who had previously resisted were not selected because of their social circumstances, perceived respectability, and how they might be portrayed by white-dominated media and courts.
- Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old student, refused to give up her bus seat on March 2, 1955. She was arrested and charged, but leaders like E.D. Nixon and Jo Ann Robinson chose not to use her case due to her age, working-class background, and the later revelation that she was pregnant outside of marriage. They feared this would discredit the movement.
- Mary Louise Smith, arrested in October 1955 for the same reason, was also not selected because her family was seen by some NAACP officials as too "unreliable" or "lower-class" for public scrutiny.
- Parks, by contrast, was a well-respected, middle-aged woman, a churchgoer, and a longtime NAACP secretary. She had been active in civil rights work for over a decade and had received training in nonviolent protest at the Highlander Folk School.
- Her demeanor, reputation, and activism made her “the perfect plaintiff.” She was considered “above reproach,” unlikely to be discredited by courts or the press. NAACP attorney Fred Gray later said she had “the right background, the right age, and the right image.”
- While her arrest was not staged, leaders seized the opportunity to use her case due to her social respectability and symbolic value.
- This reflects the strategic realities of the movement, which operated in a racist and sexist society where optics shaped public and legal outcomes.
Organization and Leadership
- Black leaders including E.D. Nixon, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ralph Abernathy founded the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to lead the boycott.
- King, only 27 years old, was elected president, marking his rise to national leadership.
- At the mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church, King gave his first major civil rights speech, calling for nonviolent resistance.
- The MIA coordinated alternative systems such as carpools and walking groups to replace bus transport.
- They printed leaflets, spread news quickly, and organized mass meetings to maintain momentum.
- Church networks became the key backbone of organization and unity.
White Resistance
- White opposition was immediate and violent.
- Bombings targeted the homes of King and Nixon. In one case, King’s wife and daughter were inside when the explosion happened.
- Authorities retaliated with conspiracy charges against 90 organizers, hoping to intimidate leaders and break the boycott.
- Officials also tried to dismantle the MIA’s carpool system, which was vital for sustaining the campaign.
- The White Citizens’ Council, founded in Montgomery in 1954, openly supported segregation and backed efforts to crush the boycott.
