The Montgomery Bus Boycott was an effort by Montgomery, Alabama, blacks to end segregation on city buses by boycotting the vehicles.
Took place from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956.
General conditions leading to boycott:
city ordinance requiring blacks to ride in designated sections in the rear of municipal buses
discourteous and violent treatment of African Americans by white city bus drivers
blacks' resentment and protest of segregation, violence, and mistreatmentat times resulting in arrests of blacks and violent confrontations between black riders and white bus drivers
formation of black organization, the Women's Political Council (WPC) that had as one of its goals the elimination of segregated city buses.
Immediate event leading to boycott:
the arrest of Rosa Parks, forty-two-year-old black seamstress and former secretary of local NAACP, for refusing to surrender her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white male passenger on December 1, 1955.
Parks' arrest, coupled with long-term system of segregation on Montgomery municipal buses leads to decision by local blacks to boycott.
Highlights of boycott:
role of E. D. Nixon, local black activist, in securing release of Parks from jail
efforts of WPC to organize one-day boycott, taking place, December 5
King's articulation of the nonviolent philosophy of protest as the ideology behind the boycott
use of mass meetings at local black churches as strategy and motivational sessions
decision to extend one-day boycott until city met basic demands of protestors
use of car pools and walking as ways of avoiding buses
rejection by city officials and representatives of bus company of demands for fairer treatment on buses
arrest of boycott leaders by city authorities and bombing of homes of some of the boycott leaders by white extremists
decision to sue the city for complete elimination of segregation on city buses
decision of federal district court, affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, declaring segregation on municipal buses unconstitutional, December 1956 (Browder v. Gayle).
Significance of boycott:
successful effort by 40,000 blacks in Montgomery against segregation on municipal buses reflected new attitude of protest by southern blacks
considered the beginning of the Modern Civil Rights Movement
saw the rise of Martin Luther King Jr. as national civil rights leader and spokesman of Modern Civil Rights Movement
led to similar protests by blacks in other Southern cities.