Montgomery+Bus+Boycott

Kaiya Grade 5

Can you believe there was ever a time when people of different races could not sit together on a public bus? Today, this happens all the time. In 1955, however, in Montgomery, Alabama things were still segregated. Rosa Parks started something that would end up changing everything. Just by sitting on a bus, Rosa made things change. When other people got involved, the change increased. Finally, the Montgomery Bus Boycott did not just change one city, it changed all the cities in the United States, maybe even the whole world.

Most people think Rosa Parks started the boycott, but she just sat down and the trouble started around her. One day, on her way home from work as a seamstress, Rosa sat down in the section of the bus that was designated for “Colored” people. When the bus filled up, there was a white man who had no seat in the white section. The bus driver stood up, walked back to Rosa and asked her to move, but she just sat there. After a few more tries, the bus driver threatened to call the police if she did not get up. Rosa still sat. The bus driver called the police and Rosa was sent to jail.

That night, when Rosa was in jail, a man named Clifford Durr bailed Rosa out and took her home to her house. When she got home, Rosa, her mom and Mr. Parks discussed having a trial against the bus company. They decided, with the help of Rosa’s friend, Joanne Robinson, that they would plan a bus boycott in order to show the bus company that Blacks were valuable customers, just like the white riders. The plan was that no ‘colored’ people would take the bus to help protest Rosa’s treatment. Ministers, who told their congregations not to ride the bus, spread the news about the bus boycott. The boycott was planned for December 5, 1955, the day of Rosa’s trial.

Early that morning, ‘colored’ people started walking and biking and carpooling and waiting for taxis. No one got on the bus but white people. One of the new minister’s in town who had helped to spread the word about the boycott, Martin Luther King, Jr. got the news from his wife. Coretta Scott King later remembered yelling at Martin when the first bus came by their house, “It worked! It worked! There are no colored people on the bus!”

Even though the boycott would need to continue for 380 more days, it made a change. Montgomery’s buses were desegregated, thanks to the people who protested and all those who marched and walked. What would our buses be like today if Rosa had not helped us think about sitting down for something we believe in? media type="youtube" key="V6aUVVUXGZc" height="348" width="560" align="right"