Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott Structure

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott

Structure • • • About Rosa Parks Background to the boycott The Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 Aftermath Influence

Rosa Parks (1913 -2005) Born February 4 th 1913 Attended a segregated school Bullied by white children in her neighborhood Finished high schools studies in 1933, at a time when less than 7 % of black people had a diploma • In 1943 became active in the Civil rights Movement and joined the NAACP in Montgomery • Died 2005 in Detroit • •

Background to the bus boycott • There had been refusals to give up their seats in 1942, 1946, 1952 • Since 1900 the white and colored bus passengers in Montgomery were segregated by a city ordinance • Passengers were not required to give up their seats if the bus was crowded; however later on bus drivers adopted the custom of forcing black people to give up their seat if no white-only seats were left • Parks had already 1943 encountered the same bus driver James F Blake and decided never to ride again on his bus

The bus boycott in 1955 • Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person in December 1 st 1955. The bus driver, James F. Blake ended up calling the police, which led to the arrest of Parks. • She was convicted for civil disobedience

Aftermath • Parks appealed her conviction • Leaflets were spread around announcing a bus boycott • The bus boycott among the black people lasted 381 days which damaged the transit company’s finances • The court case resulted eventually in abandoning the bus segregation • The district court of Montgomery declared racial segregation laws unconstitutional

Influence • Parks became an icon of the civil rights movement. She helped set the wheels in motion. • Today people have equal rights to use public facilities without being separated • Lies in honor in the Capitol Rotunda • Her birthday and day of arrest are both Rosa Parks Day in some U. S. states

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