The Bus Boycott in Montgomery

Masaryk University

Faculty of Education

Department of English Language and Literature

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2013

Supervisor: Author:

Michael George, M.A. Kristýna Beníčková 2

I proclaim that this bachelor thesis is my individual work and that I used only the sources cited in the bibliography.

Brno, April 2013 Kristýna Beníčková

I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Michael George, A.M. for his valuable advice, motivation, providing me with essential materials and also for his very kind approach. 4

Annotation

This thesis deals with a one year long struggle for black equality which took place in Montgomery during the years 1955 to 1956. Through boycotting public bus transportation the black citizens intended to change the seating system. But finally the results had bigger dimension. Not only the segregation on buses was abolished but also it inspired many other civil rights movements which followed shortly. The Montgomery movement introduced important personalities and freedom fighters such as Martin Luther King, Jr. to the world as well. The aim of this work is to describe the boycott as a great example of people´s unity and determination and to point out the significance of the movement to American history and to the present day.

Key words:

Segregation, equality, race, the Black, Rosa Parks, public transportation, Montgomery, boycott, Martin Luther King, NAACP, non-violence 5

Content

Content…………………………………………………………………...... 5 Introduction…………………………………………………………………7 1. Background……………………………………………………………….8 1.1 Jim Crow era……………………………………………………...8 1.2 Montgomery before the boycott………………………………….9 1.3 Personalities……………………………………………………...10 1.3.1 Rosa Parks……………………………………………...11 1.3.2 Martin Luther King, Jr………………………………….11 2. Rosa Parks´ refusal………………………………………………………13 2.1 What preceded the refusal………………………………………..13 2.2 The denial………………………………………………………....15 2.3 The arrest………………………………………………………….18 2.4 Reactions………………………………………………………….19 3. The bus boycott in Montgomery…………………………………………21 3.1 Preparations……………………………………………………….21 3.2 December 5………………………………………………………..25 3.2.1 Empty buses……………………………………………..25 3.2.2 Rosa Parks´ trial…………………………………………26 3.2.3 Preparing the meeting…………………………………...26 3.2.4 The mass meeting………………………………………..29 3.3 The boycott continues……………………………………………..32 3.3.1 Next steps………………………………………………..32 3.3.2 Looking for a solution…………………………………...35 3.3.3 Growing impact………………………………………….36 3.3.4 Hard times……………………………………………….37 3.3.5 King´s first arrest………………………………………...39 6

3.3.6 Bomb……………………………………………………40 3.3.7 Non-violence……………………………………………42 3.3.8 Massive arrest…………………………………………...43 3.4 Final decision……………………………………………………...46 3.4.1 Browder v. Gayle case…………………………………..46 3.4.2 The last attempt of the city……………………………...46 3.4.3 Victory…………………………………………………..47 3.4.4 Integrated buses…………………………………………48 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………....50 Bibliography………………………………………………………………….52 Books………………………………………………………………….52 Other sources..………………………………………………………...53

Introduction

It is surprising that in the second half of 20th century, when the majority of the world took their freedom as granted, the life conditions of African-Americans in the United States of America could not be compared to the conditions the white citizens lived under. The history of the country often presented as an example of democracy, civil rights and opportunities has also its dark sides, one of which is the problematic acceptance of different races by the white majority.

This thesis describes one event, which is often considered to be a turning point in breaking the whites´ supremacy and integration of the Black. The boycott in Montgomery showed that there is no use in passive acceptance but people must stick together and act to improve their situation. Also it was important to use a good method in reaching their aims, which was the method of nonviolence. It must have been very hard not to pay back in the same way when having been beaten, kicked or spit on. But the Montgomery movement proved that it is possible to manage.

In the first part of this paper, the background information is provided, including brief description of the social status of an average black person in the South and of the city of Montgomery and its citizens. The second part attempts to explain how the whole protest started and what had lead to it. It deals with Rosa Parks´ refusal on the bus and following decision to use the incident in favor of the planned protest. The third and the fourth part are about the boycott itself. First months of the protest were more difficult and therefore full of incidents and reversals. The second half of the boycott was more or less about waiting for the final decision of the court which showed that the whole struggle did not happen in vain.

1. Background

1.1 Jim Crow era

Originally the African people (later called African-Americans) were brought to the United States as slaves during the period from the 17th to the 19th century. After the Civil War, the slavery was abolished by ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment on December 6, 1865. For a while blacks had some hope to have the same rights and life conditions as whites. But even though their social status had changed according to the law, it did not change in the eyes of the white majority. The hope for equal treatment disappeared with the Jim Crow era.

The term ´´Jim Crow´´ was firstly used in the 1890´ in some writings, but its origin is unknown. Probably it has the roots in a song of the same name by Thomas D. Rice from 1832. During the following few years the term had become an adjective and started to be widely used to signify southern segregation laws and the whole period. (Woodward 7)

The era between years 1890 to 1960s was marked by ´´separate but equal´´ rules. In all public places, including schools, hospitals, restaurants, theatres, public transportation and so on, any contact between blacks and whites was to be avoided. Also interracial marriages were prohibited by law. Life was not easy for blacks, they had to face humiliation every day and sometimes even violence such as beating or lynching.

1.2 Montgomery before the boycott

In the state of Alabama, the segregation laws related to public transportation were strictly followed. One of the rules for example ordered: ´´All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races.´´ (http://publicradio.org) Another one said: ´´All railroads carrying passengers in this state, other than street railroads, shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races by providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or by dividing the passenger cars by partitions, so as to secure separate accommodation.´´ (www.pbs.org)

There was a huge difference between life conditions of an average black and white person in the South. Because of unequal treatment and opportunity, only 25 percent of white working men were working as laborers, compared to 75 percent of black men. The median income of a white citizen of Montgomery at the beginning of the 1950s was about 1730 dollars. A black worker had 970. (Kennedy 1009)

The city of Montgomery was a typical southern city, where segregation was a part of everyday life. The two societies were separated on every public place. Schools were separated and no change occurred after the United States Supreme Court decision in 1954 which said that schools can be integrated. It was customary that in shops all white people were served before a black man who had to wait. Also they usually were not addressed with polite titles. There was separation in public transportation containing also taxis which could not hold a black and white men together. (King 28)

The segregation of two races on buses was realized as follows:

´´…white people who boarded the bus took seats in the front rows, filling the bus toward the back. Black people who boarded the bus took seats in the back rows, filling the bus toward the front. Eventually, the two sections would meet, and the bus would be full. If other black people boarded the bus, they were required to stand. If another white person boarded the bus, then everyone in the black row nearest the front had to get up and stand, so that a new row for white people could be created. Often when boarding the buses, black people were required to pay at the front, get off, and reenter the bus through a separate door at the back.´´ (www.absoluteastronomy.com)

The number of black citizens in Montgomery in the year 1954 was about fifty thousand, compared to the number of eighty thousand whites. (Bennett 55) Since the black people using the city buses made about 75 percent of all passengers and because they were using the buses every day, in their eyes the segregation there was the most humiliating. Twice a day the black passengers had to face rudeness of white drivers and were watching empty seats reserved for whites while they were standing at the crowded back of a bus. Situations in which the Black were called ´´niggers´´, ´´black cows´´ or in which a driver pulled away before a black passenger, who had paid in front, managed to get on the bus through a back door, were not rare. (Harding 41)

1.3 Personalities

Before the bus boycott there were some organizations in Montgomery fighting for equal rights of the Black. The most important were Women´s Political Council (WPC), lead by Jo Ann Robinson, and local part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), connected mostly to Edgar Daniel Nixon. Apart from these cooperating organizations and its members, there were also individuals without whom the whole protest might not have succeed. One of them was Mrs. Rosa Parks, whose involvement started the movement. 11

1.3.1 Rosa Parks

Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her father was a carpenter, mother was teaching at local school. Rosa attended Montgomery Industrial School for girls and then graduated at Alabama State College for Negroes. IN 1932 she married Raymond Parks. For 23 years Rosa Parks was working as a clerk and a department store seamstress and meanwhile she was active in NAACP as a secretary. (Nash 240)

Her first realization of the social status of the Black in the South and white supremacy came early. Ku Klux Klan, the racist organization, had been threatening black people to attack their families or burn their houses, which sometimes really happened. Rosa Parks´ grandfather was preparing the whole family for such situation so she knew about possible danger since she was a child. (nytimes.com)

Since she was living in Montgomery and working for the local NAACP in her free time, she was familiar with the attempts to improve the conditions of blacks in the city. But she had not intended to be involved in the movement the way she was.

The boycott changed her life completely. For the Black she was a hero and later received many prizes. But shortly after the protest both she and her husband lost their jobs and together they moved to Detroit, Michigan where she lived till the end of her life in 2005. (www.biography.com)

1.3.2 Martin Luther King, Jr.

On 15 January 1929 Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. After a mother of his white friend forbade him to play with her son because of the different 12 color of his skin, he began to realize the situation of ´´his´´ people. But he never forgot what his parents kept telling him about the equality of all human beings. (McLean 3-4)

He studied Morehouse College in Atlanta and then entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and then Boston University´s School of Theology to follow his father and become a preacher. In Boston he met his future wife Coretta Scott. Although they both were determined to live in the North, in 1954 they finally decided to move to Montgomery, where Martin Luther was offered to serve as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. (Sitkoff 42-43)

During the bus boycott, Martin Luther King became known all over the world. His emotional speeches and propagation of nonviolent method had power to move masses of people. Since the boycott in Montgomery King had started a lifelong struggle for black equality. He was leading many other movements and became a symbol. As one his close friends, Andrew Young, said: ´´I think that Martin always felt that he had a special purpose in life and that that purpose in life was something that was given to him by God, that he was the son and grandson of Baptist preachers, and he understood, I think, the scriptural notion of men of destiny. That came from his family and his church, and basically the Bible.´´ (qtd. in Garrow 1987, p. 444)

For his struggle in improving the status of black Americans, Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel prize at the age of thirty-five. In April 1968 he was assassinated in Memphis, where he was leading another protest. (www.nobelprize.org)

2. Rosa Parks´ refusal

2.1 What preceded the refusal

The numerous black population of Montgomery was not passively watching the situation they were in. Some smaller incidents as expressions of disagreement with segregation laws were quite common, but it was mostly in hands of a few people.

One of the most active ones was E.D. Nixon. Although he did not commute by buses because of having his own car, he tried to do his best to improve the conditions of public transportation for the whole black community. Once he went to the bus company to complain about the order which dictated that black people had to pay their fare at the bus driver and then got back and enter the bus through the back door. Their response was that black people were doing that voluntarily and it had been originally their own idea. Next time Nixon protested at the company about the small community having to walk quite a long way across the bridge in order to get to the bus stop, but the reaction of the company was not better: When the people come to the bus stop every day and ride the buses anyway, why would the company exert to extend the route of the bus? (Parks 211)

Jo Ann G. Robinson, the leader of the Women´ Political Council, founded in 1946, also had little success in improving the conditions of everyday life of the black. She tried to change the attitude of the bus company toward black citizens of Montgomery. Through protests she made the company add some bus stops in black areas, because they were not so frequent as in the areas where white people lived. (Parks 211-212)

The idea of a bus boycott was talked over for a long time. As E.D. Nixon, the leader of African-Americans civil rights movements, said, they had been looking for someone 14 who would have started a boycott by violating the bus segregation law for about a year. He knew thanks to his experience in NAACP and other associations that it could not have been anyone, but a person with good social status and nothing which could have been used against him at the court. (Raines 305)

Rosa Parks wrote in her book that she had been aware of the fact, how a bus boycott would have bad impact on economic situation of the bus company in Montgomery. But she had discussed the matter with some people and everyone was skeptical about the idea because people were dependent on the bus so as to get to work which was usually a long way from their homes. The NAACP in Montgomery was therefore thinking over the idea of suing the city of Montgomery for bus segregation. To have a chance there had to be a good case and a person who would not arouse doubts, preferably a woman. (Parks 212)

There were some candidates for it. One of them was a fifteen-year-old school girl Claudette Colvin who was arrested in March 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. A teacher of hers was often talking about the bad treatment of white people toward the black. She was also upset when she heard about a black student accused of raping a white woman. She was arrested and Mr. Nixon was again considering whether her case could be the right one. Unfortunately he found out that Claudette was from a poor family and when the police were taking her she was aggressive. Moreover, it was later discovered that she was also pregnant at the time, which would have destroyed her reputation and the whole attempt of the civil rights activists. (Branch 123)

Then there was another young girl in October 1955, named Mary Louise Smith. She refused to give up her seat to a white woman on the Highland Avenue bus. She was arrested and found guilty. The bond was nine dollars. It was thought that this might have been the appropriate case, which was however disproved after finding out that her father was an alcoholic and her family background was not the ideal one. (http://www.colorado.edu) 15

Because of these former attempts there have been some surmises that Rosa Parks´ refusal and the decisive arrest had been a planned action. This was however denied by everybody connected to this case, including Rosa Parks herself. She wrote later that for her the denial was nothing so much rare because she had had problems with accepting the separation laws, especially in public transportation, for a long time. She had been ordered out of a bus more than once because of refusing to pay the money at the front and then go to the back of a bus from the outside. But on 1st December 1955 it was the first time she was arrested, which gave the case all the publicity. (Raines 306-307)

2.2 The denial

On that day, 1st December 1955, Mrs. Parks left her work in the Fair department store, where she worked in a tailor shop, and went to buy something to a drugstore so she was not going to the bus stop immediately as usual. After that she came to Court Square and got on a Cleveland Avenue bus with other people. (Raines 307)

In her book Mrs. Parks wrote that if she had been more attentive, she may have not entered the bus, because of the driver, whose name was, as she learnt later at the court, James Blake. She had not noticed it was the same man whom she had met twelve years earlier when he ordered her out of his bus. Usually when she saw him she tried to avoid him and caught another bus. She described him as a tall man with mean expression and red skin. (Parks 212)

It was not easy to find a seat at that day hour and there had already been some people standing at the back of the bus. Lerone Bennett, an author of Martin Luther King´s biography wrote there were another twenty-three black passengers with Rosa Parks on the bus and twelve whites. (Bennett 59) But the exact number of passengers on the bus 16 differ. Taylor Branch introduced the number of twenty-two black and fourteen white people. (http://www.colorado.edu)

But accidentally there was one vacant seat precisely behind the section for white passengers. So she sat down there. Next to her there was a black man and two women across the aisle. When the bus started to move, there were still some vacancies in the white section. This however changed as the bus was getting more and more crowded at the second and the third stop, but Rosa Parks did not pay much attention to that. There were no vacant seats at the front after Empire Theater bus stop and one man remained standing. When the driver noticed that, he told Mrs. Parks and other three people in the same line to vacate the seats for the standing man and other white passengers who would get on. (Raines 307)

None of them obeyed. He continued: ´´You´d better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats.´´ (qtd. in Raines 1977: p. 307) After it the man who was sitting next to Mrs. Parks stood up and she made him enough space to get pass her into the aisle and then she moved at his former place by the window. She saw the two women standing up as well, but remained where she was, thinking about the behavior of whites which would become worse and worse if blacks would submit all the time. She later wrote that it came to her mind, how would have the situation looked like in case the other three blacks had remained seated as well. She would have naturally felt better but she never felt any reproach toward them. (Parks 213)

The driver insisted on her doing as he had said but he failed again. He explained her that she was actually sitting in the white section. Normally it was so called no-man´s land, but in case the white section was full, the driver had the right to determine it to be for whites only. (http://www.colorado.edu)

Then he threatened her that if she was not to do as she had been told, he was going to call the police. Mrs. Parks spurred him on doing so. All this was observed by the 17 standing man because of whom everything had happened and who according to Rosa Parks did not say a word. (Raines 308)

There have been many speculations why Rosa Parks, a good-tempered woman with glasses, was so indomitable. Because of her close connection to NAACP, the most spread idea was that she was only a tool of the association, someone on whom it could test the segregation law at the court and possibly reach some success. When people later asked Mrs. Parks whether she had realized that there would probably be speculations about her being the test case for NAACP, she said that idea did not come to her mind at all. (Parks 213)

Another spread idea was that she was simply tired after a long day standing at her work. In Bennett´s book there is a mention of Mrs. Parks´ proclamation that she was tired from shopping and her feet hurt. (Bennett 60). However, later Rosa Parks wrote: ´´I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty- two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.´´ (qtd. in Parks 213). Martin Luther King wrote that she had been tracked down by the Zeitgeist – the spirit of the time. (King 44)

After her refusal the bus driver left the bus. Rosa Parks described that she was sitting there and tried not to think much about the consequences. But she realized deeply in her head that she might be arrested or even beaten. Some people started to get off the bus in order to look for another way how to get home. There was silence in the bus, everyone was speaking very quietly. (Parks 213)

After a while there came two police officers and made their way toward Mrs. Parks. She described the situation: ´´They approached me and asked if the driver had asked me to stand up, and I said yes, and they wanted to know why I didn´t. I told them I didn´t think I should have to stand up. After I had paid my fare and occupied the seat, I didn´t 18 think I should have to give it up.´´ (qtd. in Raines, 1977: p. 308) Then the policemen took her things, which was a purse and a shopping bag and sat her into the police car. (Parks 212-213)

2.3 The arrest

When the policemen with Rosa Parks arrived at the jail she was asked some questions about the situation in the bus and what the driver had said. When she asked them for permission to make a phone call, it was denied. They put her in a cell for a while and then took her out so as to make some photos of her and take fingerprints. After this she could use the telephone. (Raines 308)

Rosa Parks called her mother and told her about the situation she was in, which upset the mother. She ensured herself that her daughter was not beaten and handed the phone to Mr. Parks, Rosa´s husband. Mrs. Parks asked him to come as soon as possible, which he promised to do although he did not have a car. She was then taken back to the cell. When she was describing her feelings later she denied having been scared much or indignant. She was more resigned and calm. (Parks 214)

Shortly after the police arrested Rosa Parks, E.D. Nixon was informed about it. There was Eddie Mae Pratt on the bus, a woman whose friend Bertha T. Butler was a friend of Rosa Parks. In the moment when Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat, Mrs. Pratt was in the crowd at the back of the bus and did not see what was happening but the information of a black lady was spreading quickly around the bus. When Rosa Parks was taken out by the policemen and led to the police car, Mrs. Pratt saw her through the bus window and recognized a friend of her neighbour Mrs. Butler. She was shocked and as soon as the bus went on and arrived at the given stop, she hurried straight to Bertha Butler to tell her what had happened. (http://www.gpo.gov)

Mrs. Butler called E.D. Nixon immediately and he began to act. At first he had to find out what had happened, but the sergeant he spoke with did not provide any further information. Normally Mr. Nixon would have called Fred Gray, a black lawyer, but he had been abroad so he called a white lawyer Clifford J. Durr, who called the police again and then notified Nixon that Rosa Parks was arrested because of violating the Alabama segregation law. (Raines 306)

Nixon hurried to the house of the Durr family. Mr. Durr and his wife Virginia were already waiting for him outside. Mrs. Virginia Durr accompanied the two men because she knew Rosa Parks well, as Mrs. Parks sometimes did some sewing work for her daughters. (http://www.colorado.edu)

Not long after Rosa Parks was sitting in her cell, she was taken out again. There were Mr. and Mrs. Durr with Mr. Nixon, who paid the bail, waiting for her. She was pleased to see them. They were upset and curious whether Mrs. Parks had been beaten or bad treated. Mrs. Durr seemed moved and she welcomed Mrs. Parks heartily. Together they took all the things and found out the date of a trial, which was agreed to be on Monday, 5th December. Then together they left. (Parks 214)

2.4 Reactions

From the jail Rosa Parks, the Durrs and Mr. Nixon went straight to the house of the Parks family. Mr. Raymond Parks, who was barber, and Rosa´s mother were eager to hear every detail of what had happened. E.D. Nixon did not want to break the atmosphere of the family enjoying being together, but he had one thing in his mind that he had to solve. He took Mr. Durr aside and asked him about his opinion, whether it would be the suitable case for attempting to reach some success in gaining equal rights. Clifford Durr shared Nixon´s enthusiasm about Rosa Parks and her family. He only pointed to the fact that it would probably be a long process before the case could come 20 to the federal court from the state one. But he had no doubts it was worth trying. (http://www.colorado.edu)

Mr. Nixon was very well aware of the fact that Rosa Parks was the ideal person for defending her rights (as rights of all black community) at the court. He knew her very well as she had been working as his secretary for twelve years. Walt Harrington wrote in his writing:

´´Rosa Parks, because of her well-mannered, serene demeanor, her proper speech, her humble, saintly way, her ascetic lifestyle – she didn´t drink, smoke or curse – carried not only the image but the reality of the deserving Negro. Mrs. Parks had the qualities middle- class whites claimed in themselves and denied in blacks. Nothing about her supported the white contention that she deserved to be treated as inferior.´´ (http://www.gpo.gov)

After discussing the matter with Mr. Durr, E.D. Nixon did not hesitate to ask Rosa Parks privately whether she would plead herself not guilty at the court and make her case the test case as they had intended many times before. He did not get an immediate answer. Giving the case the publicity and political subtext would mean having uneasy time to the whole Parks´ family. Rosa was aware of that so she needed to discuss it with her relatives first. She started with her mother and continued with discussing it with her husband. None of them was enthusiastic about the idea because they knew it would be difficult and they were also afraid for Rosa. Mr. Parks kept telling her: ´´The white folks will kill you, Rosa.´´ (http://www.colorado.edu)

But neither her husband nor her mother was discouraging her from her own decision. And Rosa Parks agreed. She trusted Mr. Nixon and if he thought she was the person who could be useful for the fight against segregation, she was ready to help. They all discussed the matter for some time and then everyone left the Parks´ family alone. There were many things which had to done. (Raines 309) 21

3. The Montgomery bus boycott

3.1 Preparations

The information about the arrest of Rosa Parks was spreading quickly among the black community. Members of Women´s Political Council were aroused. It was clear that it might have been the chance they had been waiting for. The decision to boycott the buses came quickly. Through the phone calls they agreed that E.D. Nixon should be in the vanguard of the whole action, which he accepted. (King 44)

Nixon did not hesitate to plan the boycott. In the late evening after the arrest of Mrs. Parks he began with the preparations. At first he drew a simple plan of Montgomery and tried to think about the possibilities of black citizens to walk to their work. He found out that it should have been possible for everyone. His wife did not share his enthusiasm but she was not against it. Then Nixon made a list of names he wanted to call. He started with Ralph Abernathy, the minister of the First Baptist Church. He agreed with the boycott and being a part of it. Then Nixon spoke to Mr. Hubbard, president of the Baptist Ministerial Alliance, who also promised to help. The next one to call was Martin Luther King. (Raines 310-311)

It was early in the morning after the arrest of Rosa Parks when Nixon called King. Without usual polite greetings Nixon acquainted him with the news of the previous day and told him: ´´We have taken this type of thing too long already. I feel that the time has come to boycott the buses. Only through a boycott can we make it clear to the white folks that we will not accept this type of treatment any longer.´´ (qtd. in King 1958, 45)

King asked Nixon to call him back in a while because he had to think it over. When Nixon did so, King was definitely decided to join the action and since his church was 22 the most influential one in the black community, he provided it to be a meeting place. (Raines 311)

Nixon was not the only one who was alarming others and making arrangements for the boycott. Jo Ann Robinson and her colleagues from Women´s Political Council met during the night after the arrest of Rosa Parks. Together they were creating a text of leaflets which were to be distributed among the black community of Montgomery. The final version was as follows:

´´Another Negro woman has been arrested and thrown into jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus and give it to a white person. Until we do something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or you or you. This woman´s case will come up Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses on Monday in protest of the arrest and trial.´´ (http://www.colorado.edu)

There were 52,500 leaflets made at Alabama State School, where Robinson was teaching. She had to explain later to H. Councill Trenholm, the black president of Alabama State, what had happened and promised him to pay for the paper used. He accepted it for his wife was also a member of the Council. The next day all the leaflets were distributed around the city. Members of Women´s Political Council, their friends, students and various volunteers helped with the distribution. Soon there were leaflets at every possible public place including black schools, churches, shops, bus stops, pubs and so on. (http://www.gpo.gov)

Realizing the crucial role of civic leaders and known personalities in persuading the whole black community to join the boycott, Nixon and his colleagues arranged a meeting on Friday evening where the organization of the boycott would be discussed. It was held in King´s church. He described in his book that surprisingly the majority of 23 addressed people were crowded in the meeting room, including teachers, lawyers, clergymen and others representatives of the whole black community. (King 45-46)

E.D. Nixon was not present at the meeting because of his duties as a Pullman porter so he charged another minister to preside. As he did not want any leaders of the boycott to be elected in his absence, Nixon gave the instruction to the minister and so no elections took place at the meeting. He wanted to be sure that people who were to become main personalities of the boycott and would have to influence the masses would be chosen carefully. (Raines 311)

The name of the minister in charge was Lerone Loy Bennett. He was a president of Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. The meeting began at half past six with the opening speech of Mr. Bennett who briefly summarized the recent events and the need of uniting black people against segregation. He also pointed to the fact that they had to act and there was no time to talk, which caused chaos for a couple of minutes because everyone wanted to gain more information and make queries about the realization of the boycott. Finally Mr. Bennett made concession and the discussion started. (King 46-47)

During the meeting, many organizational issues were discussed, tasks were distributed, such as calling eighteen black taxi companies of Montgomery to inform them about the boycott on Monday. Also new leaflets were printed with a text similar to the old one, created by Women´s Political Council, but shortened and supplemented by some new instructions:

´´Don´t ride the bus to work, to town, to school, or any place in Montgomery, December 5. If you work, take a cab, or share a ride, or walk. Come to a mass meeting, Monday at 7:00 p.m., at the Holt Street Baptist Church for further instruction.´´ (http://www.colorado.edu)

At the end of the meeting it was agreed that the boycott should get more publicity during the weekend and there would be another meeting after the boycott on Monday evening where they would sum it up and decide what the next step would be. It was around midnight when they finished and went home. (http://hb2hosting.net)

During the weekend new leaflets were distributed around the city, ministers appealed to people in churches for joining the boycott so as to show the unity and the dissatisfaction with the segregation. Also all the taxi companies agreed to transfer black people on Monday for 10 cent, which was the usual price for a bus drive. The message was spreading very quickly also thank to a black woman who was not able to read properly and not knowing what the text was saying, she showed one of the leaflets to her white employer who immediately informed the Montgomery Advertiser. So the news appeared also in the press, which caused that till the end of the weekend there were hardly any black citizens who had not heard about the upcoming event. (King 49)

E.D. Nixon later described differently the way of how the news about the planned boycott reached the press. He told in an interview that in fact the journalist who had written the article about the boycott was his close friend Joe Azbell. Nixon arranged a meeting with him and told him everything about the arrest of Rosa Parks and following plans. He wanted Azbell to write a good article which would help to catch attention of the greatest possible amount of black citizens. Despite realizing that he was putting his job at risk, which proved to be right because not long after this he was dismissed, Azbell did his best. His article, which included also the words from the leaflets, covered two columns on the front page in the Sunday Advertiser and helped a great deal to spread the information among the black. (Raines 311-312)

After the days full of work and preparations, the black leaders of Montgomery awaited the day of the boycott with big expectation. At that moment there was nothing more to be done. It was in hands of all black Montgomery citizens. The city was awaiting with curiosity what the new day would bring. 25

3.2 December 5

3.2.1 Empty buses

M.L. King and his wife Coretta were nervously awaiting the first indications of the action from five thirty in the morning. King and other black leaders shared the conviction that sixty percent cooperation would be considered success. At six o´clock the first bus was passing their house when Coretta, sitting by a window, shouted: ´´Martin! Martin! Come quickly!´´ King hurried to the living room and looked outside at an orange bus. To his great surprise, the bus was empty. Trying to avoid the premature joy, he waited for the second bus, which was, however, almost empty, as well as the third one. King wanted to ensure himself, so he got on his car and was driving through the city looking through the windows into every bus he met. The results were the same. (Bennett 64)

Most of the buses were followed by police cars. A new police commissioner Clyde Sellers ordered it because of his presumption that black groups would try to prevent others from getting on the buses by force. However, the effect of police officers behind the buses was nearly opposite. Many black people noticing the police decided not to take the bus so as to avoid the police. Their only action of that day was an arrest of a nineteen-year-old student who had offered an old woman a drive in his car. He was charged with intimidating passengers. However, this act was considered to be nothing more than a desperate attempt to react somehow. (http://www.colorado.edu)

The success was unexpectedly huge. Almost a hundred percent cooperation was reached. Instead of taking the bus the black people were walking to their jobs, to schools or they shared cars, buggies or rode mules to any distant place. Groups of young people were gathering at bus stops to cheer the empty buses and were laughing, singing and making jokes. This continued during the whole day. (King 54) 26

3.2.2 Rosa Parks´ trial

In the same morning the trial with Rosa Parks took place. Her attorney was a young man Fred D. Gray, who was to become the main lawyer of the whole Montgomery bus boycott movement. In his book Bus Ride to Justice he wrote that before the case he had met with Mrs. Parks, who was also his friend, Mr. Nixon, M. L. King and other leaders to agree on the tactics. Then they walked together to the Recorders Court of the City of Montgomery where the trial was to be held at 9 a.m. The whole process took only thirty minutes. (Gray 55)

As it was expected, Mrs. Parks was found guilty of violating the segregation law and fined fourteen dollars altogether with the court costs. She appealed against the decision. E.D. Nixon described later, that when he had left the court room to make bond for Mrs. Parks´ release, he was shocked by the number of blacks standing outside. According to his words there were about a thousand people gathered around and waiting for the results of the court case. Having expected only a few relatives of Rosa Parks, Nixon was delighted by the huge concern of the public. (http://www.colorado.edu)

3.2.3 Preparing the meeting

After the trial E.D. Nixon met with Reverend Abernathy and Reverend French, a leading Methodist minister. They were aware of the necessity to meet with other ministers before the planned mass meeting to discuss some organizational issues. After the one day success it was probable that the boycott should continue until at least some demands were met. They wanted the city and the bus company to hire black bus drivers as well, demanded more courtesy to the black from all bus drivers and insisted the seating system be changed. Nixon expressed these demands in short recommendations which said: ´´Seatin´ on the bus, first come, first served. Negro bus drivers in predominant Negro neighborhoods. More courtesy to Negro patrons.´´ (qtd. in Raines 1977: p. 313) 27

Necessary steps had to be taken. At first they needed to prepare everything for the discussion. Together they were thinking about the official name for the new organization. Having rejected some proposals, they finally agreed on the name Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), suggested by Abernathy. Then it came to the president of the organization. To his companions´ surprise, Nixon suggested another person instead of himself. His recommendation was young, twenty-six years old, Martin Luther King. (Raines 313-314)

Because Nixon´s job as a Pullman porter demanded his being out of town quite often and also realizing that in his nearly sixty he might not have enough energy for the task of leadership, Nixon had been looking for someone with persuasive rhetorical skills, who would have the power to mesmerize masses and would breathe new life into the civil rights movement. Nixon had heard M.L. King speaking before, during a meeting at Alabama State College and was impressed by his oratory. Also, King was new in the community and was not involved in any struggle between black leaders. So it occurred to Nixon that King might have been the right choice. (Williams 59)

At 3 p.m. black leaders gathered to discuss the upcoming mass meeting. Nixon acquainted them with the proposal of forming the Montgomery Improvement Association, which was welcome with pleasure. Then M.L. King was recommended to become a president and was elected immediately. King described later in his book that it was too unexpected and quick for him to think it over properly. Having had more time for decision, he would have probably refused the proposal, as he had refused another leading role in the local NAACP recently because he wanted to concentrate more on his work as a preacher. (King 56)

The discussion went on. The next issue was how to perform the boycott without white people knowing about it. Someone suggested people could normally sing and pray 28 during the mass meeting and some leaflets could be secretly delivered among them, then suddenly Nixon stood up and said:

´´What the hell you people talkin´ ´bout? How you gonna have a mass meeting, gonna boycott a city bus line without the white folks knowing it? You guys have went around here and lived off these poor wash-women all your lives and ain´t never done nothing for ém. And now you got a chance to do something for ém, you talkin´ about you don´t want the white folks to know it. Unlessń this program is accepted and brought into the church like a decent, respectable organization, I´ll take the microphone and tell ém the reason we don´t have a program is ćause you all are too scared to stand on your feet and be counted. You oughta make up your mind right now that you gon´ either admit you are a grown man or concede to the fact that you are a bunch of scared boys.´´ (qtd. in Raines 1977: p. 314-315)

After Nixon´s outburst the issue of running the action secretly was not mentioned again. Then someone said it would be probably better to call off the protest, because they had shown the unity and power, but if they were to continue, people would get tired and use buses again, which would show the opposition that the threat was nothing serious. It was therefore agreed that the decision, whether to continue the boycott, would be made during the mass meeting according to the people. If the black would show little enthusiasm about the whole action, the protest would be suspended. Having had elected other officers for the association, the program of the evening meeting was planned. (http://www.colorado.edu)

The main speech would be up to the new president, M.L. King. There was not much time left to the meeting so King hurried home to prepare for it. To his relief, Coretta accepted the news about his new function as a president with understanding. Without any supper he started to work on the speech which he called later the most decisive speech of his life. For a usual sermon he needed fifteen hours. This time he had less than half an hour. He made only brief notes on a piece of paper expressing the main 29 ideas he wanted to mention. The greatest importance was attached to the method of the whole boycott, which should have been, according to King, in compliance with Christian principles and therefore nonviolent. (http://www.colorado.edu)

3.2.4 The mass meeting

In his book King wrote that when writing his notes for the speech, he felt very nervous and uncertain. He was full of doubts and was aware of the pressure of the moment. It was hard to concentrate. He prayed to God to calm himself down, which finally helped. Then he drove to the Holt Street Baptist Church. He had to leave the car four blocks before it since there were cars parking everywhere. It took him a while since he realized that the cars belong to people who had come to the meeting. He was shocked when he saw the huge crowd. There were more than four thousand blacks gathered outside the church, apart from the ones crowded inside. This was persuasive enough for King and the others to reassure themselves that the boycott should continue. (King 60-61)

With half an hour delay the meeting started. The crowd outside was listening to the loudspeakers as a voice was expressing the gratitude for the unity and solidarity which people had shown during the day. Together they sang the Onward Christian Soldiers song and then Martin Luther King began his speech. At first he summed up the recent events and put emphasis on mentioning the arrest of Rosa Parks and other injustices which had happened to blacks. He continued:

´´There comes a time when people get tired. We are here this evening to say to those who have mistreated us so long that we are tired – tired of being segregated and humiliated, tired of being kicked about by the brutal feet of oppression. We have no alternative but to protest. For many years, we have shown amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that 30

patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice. We are impatient for justice. But we will protest with love. There will be no violence on our part. Love must be our regulating ideal. If we fail to do this our protest will end up as a meaningless drama on the stage of history, and its memory will be shrouded with the ugly garments of shame. Let no man pull you so low as to make you hate him.´´ (qtd. in Sitkoff 1994: p. 45)

During his speech, King pointed to the importance of using the only possible method, which was the protest. Any other method that would have included violence would have resembled methods used by the Ku-Klux-Klan or the White Citizens Council. They wanted the aim to be reached by legal means. Also he highlighted the necessity of black unity in the protest. As he was speaking, the crowd under him was shouting out expressions of agreement and enthusiasm so he had to repeat some sentences, which impassioned the listeners even more. He continued:

´´If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history book are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, ´There lived a great people - a black people - who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization.´ This is our challenge and our overwhelming responsibility.´´ (qtd. in Bennett 1964: p. 66)

When he finished people gave him a standing ovation. Then E.N. French introduced Rosa Parks, which raised another wave of enthusiasm. She become a symbol for the black people of Montgomery. After that the floor was given to Mr. Ralph Abernathy, who read the three demands: Hiring black drivers in predominantly black areas, treating black passengers with courtesy and the ´´first-come, first-sit´´ seating system on the bus. Having had read that, he asked all the present people to stand up in case they agreed with the demands and were willing to stay off the buses until the demands were met. Without any exception, the people stood up. So the boycott was confirmed. (King 64)

E.D. Nixon later described the King´s speech as a ´´masterpiece´´. He considered the whole meeting extremely successful and encouraging. Nixon himself remembered his own words from the evening which according to him elicited cheerful hollering:

´´Good evening, my friends. I´m so happy to see all of you out here tonight, but I wanna tell you somethin´. If you´re scared, you better get your hat and coat and go home. It´s gon´ be a long drawn-out affair and before it´s over with somebody gon´ die. May be me, I don´t know. The only request I have is if I´m the one that dies, don´t let me die in vain. For twenty-some-odd years I been fighting and saying to myself that I didn´t want the children to come along and have to suffer all the insults that I´ve suffered. Well, hell, I changed my mind tonight. I decided that I wanted to enjoy some of this freedom myself.´´ (qtd. in Raines 1977: p. 315)

After the meeting the black people of Montgomery went home full of expectation, convinced to fight for equal rights and their freedom. The black leaders were also encouraged by the great concern of people. However, they realized that they must not have rested on their laurels and if the people´s determination was to prevail, their task would be much tougher.

3.3 The Boycott continues

3.3.1 Next steps

After the first day of the boycott and the reached success, the civil rights leaders felt the pressure even more than before. At that moment the expectations had increased and the leaders wanted to fulfill them. The disappointment would have been bitter.

Encouraged by the black people´s involvement and also aware of the faith people entrusted him with, Martin Luther King started to think about the necessary steps which were to follow in the very first morning after his performance at the mass meeting. He knew that a transportation committee would have to be established because helping 17,500 blacks to get to work or school and then back home every day was not an easy task and a proper system had to be made to solve the situation at least a bit. Then a finance committee was needed to raise money necessary for continuing the protest successfully and a program committee which would be in charge of organizing the usual meetings. Apart from this, the leaders would have to make some decisions and stay united in the course of action. (King 71)

Therefore the leaders called the meeting on Wednesday to decide about following strategy. At the time, the boycott was still more than 99 percent successful. During the meeting, despite some small conflicts between the authorities, the members of each committee were elected and tasks were assigned. The main organizational issues were distributed mostly between E. D. Nixon, Rufus Lewis, M. L. King, Ralph Abernathy, Jo Ann Robinson and Fred Gray, who became an official attorney of the MIA. But there were many more people involved, including also a white minister, Robert Graetz. (King 72-73)

Ralph Abernathy, in that time aged only twenty-nine, became one of the closest companions of M. L. King. In his book Stride Toward Freedom King described Abernathy as his close friend and someone without whom the whole success would have never been reached in Montgomery. (74) Without Abernathy´s supporting King as a leader of the movement, the whole protest could have failed because of the lasting rivalry between some of the black leaders. (Young 176) King and Abernathy were complementing each other perfectly. Both were great speakers with considerable influence on their listeners. When King was much philosophical, Abernathy would add something humorous and together they had power to move the masses. (Bennett 66)

Probably the most important task which had to be solved quickly was finding the suitable alternatives for transportation. Since the city officials stated in the first week of the protest that any taxi driver who would charge less than the minimum fare, which was forty-five cent, would be arrested, some other solution had to be found instead of the eighteen black taxi companies. M. L. King therefore called his college friend T. J. Jemison who had lead a short bus boycott in Baton Rouge in 1953. Jemison acknowledged King with his experience with using a car pool. Together they were discussing the possibilities of organizing a massive car pools in Montgomery.

In the evening at the regular mass meeting King explained the system of the car pools. There had to be people willing to provide their cars and also volunteers who would drive them. People would share the drives and MIA would collect money during the mass meetings for the volunteers to pay the necessary expense. Knowing how valuable it was to own a car and that sharing them would mean considerable change of a daily routine for many families, King and his companions were surprised by the amount of the volunteers. There came about 150 car owners to offer their service immediately after the meeting. (http://www.colorado.edu.)

In a short time more cars were available and soon about three hundred of them were regularly running between proper planned forty six stations placed throughout the black community. Leaflets were distributed among the black people containing information 34 about the location of the stations and time schedules. Many of these stations were situated near churches which were open to provide heated space where people could sit and wait for a drive. (King 77)

In a few days the car pool system was working precisely, which was a tremendous success. The black people showed enthusiasm for the whole action and there were many of them seen to walk, which was a demonstration of their determination. Even older blacks were participating. One of them, known among blacks as Mother Pollard, said: ´´My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.´´ Or another elderly lady: ´´I´m not walking for myself. I´m walking for my children and my grandchildren.´´ (qtd. in Sitkoff 1994, p. 47)

Because the whole operation could not have been working without financial support, money was collected twice a week in churches among the black and after the boycott became known also outside Montgomery, money started to come from other cities, countries and later continents. In one month, the MIA gained approximately 225,000 dollars. Thank to this support the association could also provide people with advice, necessary information or any help of that kind in the Bricklayers Hall, where people could find support when having a problem. (Bennett 66-67) Also the MIA could hire staff needed for dealing with everyday problems of the protest, such as answering people´s questions and complaints, solving problems with broken cars, replying to the amount of letters from all over the world and so on. (King 82-83)

Apart from regular church services where ministers were trying to contribute to the people´s determination through speeches, there was a huge mass meeting twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, every time in different Negro church. During this meetings the speakers maintained the general atmosphere of hope, unity, encouragement and longing for freedom and equality. It was necessary to keep people being aware of the need of collective effort and each one´s personal contribution. M. L. King began to realize the big potential which was hidden in the ´´emotionalism´´ of the black masses and was ready to fulfill it in favor of the boycott´s success. His speeches, arousing the 35 feelings of togetherness and self-respect, were always accompanied by people´s shouting, applauding and other expressions of agreement. (Bennett 67)

3.3.2 Looking for a solution

Since with the following days it started to be more and more obvious that the boycott might last longer than it had been initially expected, the city officials and the bus company realized that Blacks were serious with their demands and that a negotiation with the Black representatives was inevitable.

On Thursday, which was the fourth day of the protest, M. L. King, Ann Robinson, Fred Gray and some other representatives of MIA met via the Alabama Council for Human Relations with the bus company and the city officials, including Mayor William A. Gayle. Asking for nothing more than courtesy for black passengers and a new seating system with no reservations for the white, King and his companions believed that the city and the bus company would follow the demands, which surprisingly did not happen and no compromise was accepted. Thank to this first negotiation the black leadership began to realize that probably it was not the particular demands what had alarmed the white officials, but the potential strength and determination of the black community. (hb2hosting.net)

Other two sessions took place in a short time, but both of them were unsuccessful again. The atmosphere was hostile and no concessions were made. The MIA´s officials were disappointed and the only thing they could do was to keep the boycott continuing. Their feelings were also hit by a black preacher Henry Russell who was present at one negotiation and contributed to the MIA members´ disappointment by saying that the boycott is not an action corresponding with Christian principles and by his recommendation to stop the whole action. (http://www.colorado.edu.) 36

King and his associates found with bitterness that it was not a question of justice and morality but of power and superiority. The white opposition was resistant to give up their position and feared that any hint of compromise would encourage blacks to demand more.

3.3.3 Growing impact

As the days were passing and the boycott remained successful, the effect was soon visible. At first the white people of Montgomery did not pay much attention to the whole issue. They did not take the boycott seriously and were mostly laughing at the blacks´ action or ignoring it. There were few among the white community who were willing to accept equal treatment, but their power was insignificant. Anyway, almost nobody believed that the black leaders had a chance to persuade the black majority to stay off the buses and restrict their comfort by that. However, as the boycott was proceeding, it started to be more and more obvious that the initial doubts white people had about the possible success proved to be inaccurate. Not only the bus company felt the impact, but also city merchants were losing customers since the black did not travel to the shops in the centre. By the end of the protest they claimed that the losses were higher than a million dollars. (Sitkoff 46-47)

Every day the city company was losing about 65 percent of their usual profit, which naturally caused increase of the bus fares and some restrictions in providing the full service. This could not be left without any response. The city officials publicly joined the White Citizens Council and on January 24 Mayor William A. Gayle had a speech on television, in which he introduced a so called ´´get-tough´´ policy, which meant a beginning of a war between the boycotters and the city:

´´We have pussy-footed around on this boycott long enough and it is time to be frank and honest. The Negro leaders have proved they are not interested in ending the boycott but rather in prolonging it so that they may stir up racial strife. The Negro leaders have proved that they will say one thing to a white man and another thing to a Negro about the boycott. They have forced the boycott into campaign between whether the social fabric of our community will continue to exist or will be destroyed by a group of Negro radicals who have split asunder the fine relationships which have existed between the Negro and white people for generations. What they are after is the destruction of our social fabric. The white people are firm in their convictions that they do not care whether the Negroes ever ride a city bus again if it means that the social fabric of our community is destroyed so that Negroes will start riding buses again.´´ (qtd. in Bennett 1964, p. 68)

3.3.4 Hard times

With growing impact of the boycott on economical situation of Montgomery and unwillingness to find any compromise, the city began its policy of harassment. Slanders of the protest leaders occurred, spread by whites. Employers told their black employees that what the leaders were really after was making a profit out of the boycott and they were driving big cars while the other blacks were walking. Also Martin Luther King as a president of the MIA was assailed for his low age, inexperience and short knowledge of local situation. Jealousy was awakened in some of the black ministers who started to feel that they would have been more suitable for the leading position than a young newcomer. This was too much for King. At a meeting of the MIA´s executive board he offered his resignation, but it was unanimously denied. (King 122-123)

Several blacks connected to the protest lost their jobs, the drivers of the car pools were threatened that their driving licenses would be deprived and they were carefully watched by the police and immediately charged high penalties when speeding. Some 38 arrests occurred for unknown reasons. The black community began to feel the pressure and their endeavor was weakening. More blacks were seen to reoccupy the buses and the number of volunteering drivers decreased. The whole action was endangered. (Sitkoff 47-48)

The black people hoped to be supported by the white Church. M. L. King expected that since they were fighting for freedom and equality, and since they were acting only in compliance with Christian principles which were stressed and followed during the whole protest, the white preachers would be on their side.. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, which he wrote some years later when leading another struggle for equal rights, he stated that to his great disappointment, this did not happen. On the contrary, some of them became even strong opponents. (12)

The press made a contribution to the general atmosphere of fear, jealousy and uncertainty. In the Sunday Advertiser on January 22, an article occurred, stating that the boycott was to end the following day because the demands of the black had been met. This news had a purpose to confuse the boycotters and cause that they would ride buses again. Fortunately King had received the message about the whole thing on the previous day and managed to alarm the whole community in time, announcing that the article was a fake aiming to destroy their protest. The boycott continued, but the people´s mood remained gloomy. (http://www.colorado.edu.)

Reporters also wanted to find out more about the boycott organization and its leadership. They soon discovered that it was Martin Luther King Jr. who was behind the whole action and so the city´s attention turned to him.

3.3.5 King´s first arrest

On Thursday, January 26, M. L. King was driving home from his church office. On the way he stopped at one of the car pool stops to take some of the waiting blacks going in the same direction. But they did not go far and his car was stopped by a police officer. When looking at his driving license, the policemen realized who the man was whom they had just stopped. Then they let him continue the drive and so he did. But there emerged another two policemen on motorcycles behind the car. One of them was following King´s car the whole way. King therefore was careful to follow traffic regulations, but as he stopped to let three of his passengers get off the car, the policeman appeared and said: ´´Get out, King. You are under arrest for speeding thirty miles an hour in a twenty-five mile zone.´´ (qtd. in King 1958, p.128) Then King was searched and put into the police car which arrived in a short moment. (King 127-128)

Sitting in the car and riding further and further away from a city centre, King became overwhelmed by constant fear. Having no exact idea about the location of the city jail, he started to be almost certain that he would not be taken to the jail, but would be probably beaten if not even murdered. To his great relief, after some kilometers they arrived at the city jail. There he was placed into the cell with criminals who were curious to hear his story and urged him not to forget them when he got out again. The whole experience had big influence on King. Seeing the conditions the men were living under, such as crowded cells, open toilets and dehumanization, he later claimed that ´´no matter what these men had done, they shouldn´t be treated like this.´´ (qtd. in Bennett 1964, p.69)

Ralph Abernathy was the first one to arrive to the jail. But since he did not have enough money for the bond he returned to find someone willing to provide the amount in cash. Meanwhile the news about his arrest spread among Montgomery and soon a crowd of angry blacks gathered in front of the city jail. The jailers were taken aback by the number of people outside, announced that King´s trial would be held on following Monday and released him. King, pleased by the huge interest of ´´his people´´, thanked 40 the crowd and was taken home. At the same evening a huge mass meeting took place, attended by enormous amount of blacks. It was clear that the whole thing helped to unify the boycotters again and restore their determination. (http://www.colorado.edu.)

At the trial some days later King was found guilty despite his attorney´s objections and his own statement that he had been aware of the police officers following his car and therefore had been extremely careful not to break the traffic rules. He was fined fourteen dollars including the court costs. (Williams 122)

3.3.6 Bomb

When the Montgomery started to realize that the ´´get-tough´´ policy was not successful enough to stop the boycott, the protesters were awaiting what would follow. Since the boycott had started the leaders had been receiving dozens of threatening messages and phone calls. King described in his book that initially he did not pay special attention to it, but as it continued and some rumors appeared about whites´ planning to assassinate him, he began to worry about his family and his own life. During the strong feelings of uncertainty and despair he always turned to his faith. (King 132-135)

On Monday, January 30, King had a speech at a mass meeting when he noticed that something had probably happened. From his pulpit he saw someone talking to Abernathy with worried expression on his face and then caught hesitant looks at himself. He finished his speech and approached Abernathy to find out what was the news: His house had been bombed. Shocked but calm he informed the people in the church and then hurried home. (http://www.colorado.edu.)

To his great relief he found both his wife Coretta and their child unharmed. When the bomb was thrown on the porch Coretta was talking to a friend in the living room when they heard a sound which was as if someone had thrown a brick there. She later 41 explained that some inner voice told her it would have been better to go to the back of the house where the child was sleeping, so together with the friend they did so. Then the bomb exploded, leaving the porch damaged and the house filled with shards and dust. Immediately people were coming to see what had happened and the telephone started to ring. (Bennett 69-70)

In a short moment a huge crowd of angry blacks surrounded the house. People were outraged and ready to show their indignation. Many of them were holding various weapons, such as knives, guns or at least empty bottles. Some city officials also arrived, including Mayor Gayle who expressed his regret about the attack to the King family. Several reporters appeared, eager to get more information. (Sitkoff 48)

Calmed down, King went out from the house to soothe the crowd. He felt uneasy about the belligerent atmosphere. He stood in front of the people and said:

´´Now let´s not become panicky. If you have weapons, take them home. If you do not have them, please do not seek to get them. We cannot solve this problem through retaliatory violence. We must meet violence with nonviolence. Remember the words of Jesus: ´He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword.´ We must love our white brothers, no matter what they do to us. We must make them know that we love them. Jesus still cries out in words that echo across the centuries: ´Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you.´ This is what we must live by. We must meet hate with love. Remember, if I am stopped, this movement will not stop, because God is with the movement. Go home with this glowing faith and this radiant assurance.´´ (qtd. in King 1958, p. 137- 138)

This accident made the movement stronger and showed that the meaning was wider than a simple fight against the bus seating system. It was struggle for equality between the black and white. Another effect was that King became a symbol and gained respect of the whole black community.

3.3.7 Non-violence

Martin Luther King as the leader of the protest influenced the whole movement most. He insisted on observance of Christian principles of love and nonviolence. The only violence he was willing to admit, was the defensive violence, used when being attacked. But in case of a protest, no violence was accepted by King. (Young 120)

The nonviolent method was used during the whole boycott. In one of his speeches, King said:

´´…integration places certain ethical demands upon those who have been on the oppressed end of the old order. Perhaps this is why it is my personal conviction that the most potent instrument the Negro community can use to gain total emancipation in America is that of nonviolent resistance.´´ (qtd. in King 1990, p. 124)

King was inspired by Christianity and also by Mahatma Gandhi. When he read more about Gandhi and his methods, King felt that this was the way the black people in Montgomery should try to reach success. (King 96-97)

To put the theory into practice, black preachers mentioned nonviolent principles during the mass meetings and also some leaflets were distributed among protesters. The leaflets contained rules to follow: 43

´´Pray for guidance and commit yourself to complete nonviolence in word and action as you enter the bus…. Be loving enough to absorb evil and understanding enough to turn an enemy into a friend…. If cursed, do not curse back. If pushed, do not push back. If struck, do not strike back, but evidence love and goodwill at all times…. If another person is being molested, do not arise to go to his defense, but pray for the oppressor and use moral and spiritual force to carry on the struggle for justice…. Do not be afraid to experiment with new and creative techniques for achieving reconciliation and social change…. If you feel you cannot take it, walk for another week or two.´´ (qtd. in Sitkoff 1994, p. 53)

3.3.8 Massive arrest

A few days later after the bomb had been thrown at the King´s house, the boycotters had to face another inconvenience. On February 21, the city announced that the protest is against law 1921 according to which it was prohibited to ´´hinder lawful business without just cause or legal excuse.´´ (qtd. in Bennet 1964, p.76) On the grounds of this, almost a hundred of the boycotters were to be arrested in the following few hours. But instead of waiting for the police to come for them, the accused ones came to the police station of their own accord. E. D. Nixon was the first one. He came to the station and said: ´´You are looking for me? Here I am.´´ (qtd. in Sitkoff 1994, p.49)

Nixon was taken to the city jail, there he was photographed and fingerprinted and after the bond was paid, he was released. Thank to him, arresting was suddenly viewed as nothing dangerous or unbearable. Words about his behavior spread quickly and soon many others followed him. The crowd of cheering blacks gathered outside the jail and some people came in to find out whether they were on the list of people to be arrested or 44 not. Again the whole attempt to end the protest once for all failed and caused quite opposite reactions. (http://www.colorado.edu)

Martin Luther King was away from Montgomery when the arrests happened. Immediately after he was acknowledged with the news, he wanted to return. His father tried to stop him, since he was afraid that in fact the Montgomery officials wanted to get King particularly and they did not care much about other leaders. But Martin Luther insisted. He arrived to Montgomery a day after the arrests of his colleagues. There were immediately reporters and photographers surrounding him. He went directly to the city jail, where he was again photographed and then released on bond. (King 144-146)

After the arrests a great mass meeting took place at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, attended by thousands of protesters. During this meeting a new song was sung which expressed the main principles of the movement and encouraged people to go on:

´´We are moving on to vict´ry With hope and dignity.

We shall all stand together Till everyone is free.

We know love is the watchword For peace and liberty

Black and white, all our brothers To live in harmony.´´

(qtd. in Sitkoff 1994, p.49) 45

Having sung the song, the church grew quiet and Martin Luther King began his speech entitled ´´Faith in Man´´:

´´Integration is the great issue of our age, the great issue of our nation and the great issue of our community. We are in the midst of a great struggle, the consequences of which will be world-shaking. But our victory will not be for Montgomery´s Negroes alone. It will be a victory for justice, a victory for fair play and a victory for democracy. Were we to stop right now, we would have won a victory because the Negro has achieved from this a new dignity. But we are not going to stop. We are going in the same spirit of love and protest, and the same dignity we have shown in the past.´´

(qtd. in Cone 1991, p. 64)

The trial with ninety-eight boycott activists, including twenty-four church ministers, started on March 19 and lasted four days. It was attended by many supporters from the whole country and reporters from the whole world. Some of the blacks were wearing labels with a sign ´´Father, forgive them.´´ Judge Eugene Carter found the defendants guilty and fined them a penalty. In King´s case, because of his having been the main defendant as the leader and organizer, it was 500 dollars. However, according to King himself, this defeat had again advantage in showing the power of blacks´ unity. And because of appealing to the decision, the boycott was to continue until the federal court considered the case. (King 147-149)

The protest went on successfully, but the appealed case had never taken place at the federal court, because King´s attorneys made a mistake and sent necessary papers late, by which the right to appeal was lost. For a while the course of the movement was brought to a standstill. (Kennedy 1043)

3.4 Final decision

3.4.1 Browder v. Gayle case

The boycott was going on. For some days there was nothing coming what would considerably change the course of action, until four black women, one of them named Mrs. Browder, filed the suit in the federal court, demanding the end of the segregation on the buses, since it was incompatible with the Fourteenth Amendment, which provided equal treatment to all citizens. The case, called Browder v. Gayle, according to the Mayor Gayle, was held on May 11. (Williams 212)

Three judges at the United States Federal District Court were deliberating the case for several days. On June 4, 1956, the decision was made by a two-to-one vote: ´´We hold that the statutes requiring segregation of the white and colored races on a common carrier violate the due process and equal protection of the law clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.´´ (qtd. in Sitkoff 1994, p.50). The segregation was claimed to be unconstitutional. The city attorneys appealed the case to the United Sates Supreme Court immediately. Even though the victory of the boycotters was not definite yet, the movement continued with new power and hope.

3.4.2 The last attempt of the city

The city of Montgomery was waiting for the final decision of the Supreme Court. The boycott was in progress for several months, thank to the perfect system of the car pools, which was even better than at the beginning. The city officials realized the dependence of the movement´s success on the car pools. In November, 1956, city attorneys filed a suit, asking to forbid the car pool system due to the fact that it was ´´infringing on the bus company´s exclusive franchise.´´ (http://go.galegroup.com) 47

MIA attorneys were aware of this legal way how to stop the course of the boycott and had been afraid of this to happen. The hearing was set on November 13. City attorneys demanded not only the car pools to be stopped, but also wanted the MIA to pay a fine of 15,000 dollars to the city as a compensation for the losses on tax. (http://www.colorado.edu)

During the trial the MIA attorney Fred Gray received a note by a reporter Frank McGee that he was waiting for his outside with highly important news. Gray excused himself and left the court room to find out more. The reporter had received a message that ´´the United States Supreme Court had just affirmed the local federal court in Browder v. Gayle.´´ (Gray 93)

The word about the victory spread quickly through the court room. After some minutes of hustle and sounds of joy and relief, the judge Eugene Carter went on in the trial, but even though it finally end in favor of the city, the blacks were happy. Their struggle had been not unavailing. (King 160)

3.4.3 Victory

A day after the news of victory appeared, two meetings took place in Montgomery black churches, attended by ten thousand people. Preachers´ speeches were interrupted by applause, shouts of joy and agreement and by people´s expressions of emotion. Martin Luther King said:

´´All along, we have sought to carry out the protest on high moral standards…rooted in the deep soil of the Christian faith. We have carefully avoided bitterness. The months have not at all been 48

easy…Our feet have often been tired and our automobiles worn, but we have kept going with the faith that in our struggle we had cosmic companionship, and that, at bottom, the universe is on the side of justice. The Supreme Court decision was a revelation of the eternal validity of the faith, and came to all of us as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of enforced segregation in public transportation.´´ (Bennett 77)

At the same night, after the meetings which were full of enthusiasm and emotions, the Ku Klux Klan tried to frighten the black Montgomery by driving slowly through the city, as an expression of threat. Normally the blacks would have hid and run away, but on that day they were prepared for it and behave as if nothing was there. Their joy from the reached victory could not have been spoilt. (Sitkoff 52)

3.4.4 Integrated buses

Since the order from the Supreme Court did not come to Montgomery immediately after the decision, the blacks stayed off the buses for another few weeks. During this time, the MIA was busy with preparations for the upcoming changes. They did not want the black people to be impolite and to misuse their rights. Therefore, leaflets were distributed among people, providing advice how to act on an integrated bus. Also discussions at schools were held and nonviolent principles were mentioned at the mass meetings. (King 163-169)

On Friday, December 21, the buses were definitively integrated. The boycott was over. In the morning King and his colleagues got on a bus, accompanied by many reporters and photographers. They sat wherever they wanted to. An article in The New York Times read: ´´They sat in the first empty seats they saw, in the front of buses and in the rear. They did not get up to give a white passenger a seat. And whites sat with Negroes.´´ (Sitkoff 52) 49

The black victory was not fully accepted by whites immediately. There were threats, some of the black passengers were injured by shotguns and bombings occurred in some churches and houses of the black leaders, including Ralph Abernathy and Robert Graetz. Several members of the Ku Klux Klan were arrested. The atmosphere began to ease. (http://go.galegroup.com)

Conclusion

There had been many attempts to fight for black equality before the year 1955. But none of them was of the same duration and significance as the Montgomery bus boycott. In that case, many necessary factors met: The general atmosphere in the South was promising for the Black because of the recent Supreme Court´s decision on school integration. So the timing seemed to be ideal for a protest. Then there were influential leaders among the black community who were able to cooperate satisfyingly and were good orators. And there was a great deal of determination and sense of unity.

Soon the success of the boycott in Montgomery and the method of nonviolent resistance gained world´s admiration and popularity. And what is probably even more important – it encouraged many others in similar situations to act. There were so called ´´sit-ins´´, when students refused to leave restaurants or snack bars until they were served properly. Then protests took place in Birmingham, Alabama, where also children participated. Or a march from Selma to Montgomery was organized to support voting rights for blacks. Many other protests, boycotts and fights appeared and Martin Luther King was always involved until his death. In 1964 the Civil Rights Law was ratified which guaranteed equal rights and freedom for all U.S. citizens.

Although racial problems have never disappeared completely and they probably never will, it can be said that black people in U.S. can live the same life as the white majority. Many of them have achieved huge success in various areas such as sport, music, art, film, politics and so on.

Writing the thesis about Montgomery bus boycott was highly enriching and very interesting. The movement has hugely affected lives of millions of people and consequences of the action can be seen in present day. The whole story should be 51 widely known to remind us that freedom and equality should be never taken as a matter of course.

Bibliography

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Gray, Fred D. Bus Ride to Justice: Changing the System by the System, the Life and Works of Fred Gray, lawyer for Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2002. Web. 7 Apr. 2013.

Harding, Vincent. We changed the world: African Americans 1945 – 1970. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.

King, Martin Luther. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: Harper & Row, 1958. Print.

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Nash, Gary B. Encyclopedia of American History: Postwar United States 1946 to 1968. Vol. IX. New York: Facts On File, 2003. Print. 53

Parks, Rosa L. ´´My Story.´´ Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents. Ed. Michael P. Johnson. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 211- 215. Print.

Raines, Howell. ´´My Soul is Rested.´´ Retrieving the American Past: A Customized U. S. History Reader. David Sicilia. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing,2001. 304- 317. Print

Sitkoff, Harvard. The Struggle for Black Equality 1954 – 1992. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. Print.

Williams, Donnie. The Thunder of Angels: The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the People Who Broke the Back of Jim Crow. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 2006. Web. 7 Apr. 2013.

Woodward, Vann C. The Strange Career of Jim Crow. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974. Print.

Young, Andrew. An Easy Burden: the Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1996. Print.

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