Impact of The Montgomery Bus Boycott on Civil Rights Movement Essay Example

The Montgomery Bus Boycott had a huge impact on Civil Rights. The Bus Boycott inspired African American activists to take action against any form of Racial Discrimination. The Bus Boycott started in Montgomery, Alabama when Rosa Parks, an African American member of the NAACP, was asked to give up her seat for a white passenger by the bus driver. Parks refused to give up her seat as she was tired, which led to her getting arrested by the local Police. The arrest of Parks sparked a nonviolent boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (MLK) and other leaders who took charge to spread the word of the Bus Boycott. Joe Ann Robinson, with the Women’s Political Council, also supported the boycott and helped raise awareness about the boycott to gain national support. The Black leaders arranged Carpools, taxis which helped them move from one place to another, and some people even chose to walk miles. Even though most black taxi drivers were arrested, and most of the black leaders' homes were bombed for supporting the boycott, they never gave up; they proved that they can achieve things through a slow and non-violent process. It took MLK and the activists almost more than a year to get the U.S. Supreme Court to release Parks and pass the 14th Amendment, which states segregation on Public buses is unconstitutional. The activists, Rosa Parks, MLK, Joe Ann Robinson, played a key role in this boycott. The African American community stood up for what they believed in, contributed, and achieved a difference through this nonviolent protest. The Bus Boycott is an example of inspiring people to trust in themselves and shows how the African American community came together to achieve success. It also explores the leader MLK, who took charge and pushed for the boycott by organizing very regular mass meetings.

Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, popularly known as MLK, was the Young Hero of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. King was a young political activist who followed Non-violent practices. He wanted the Montgomery Bus Boycott to be nonviolent and to be successful in a peaceful way. He still wanted the protest to continue to be nonviolent even though he was arrested and was in prison. He also helped inspire many people to fight for what they believe in. King’s philosophies relied majorly on his inspiration Gandhi, who was a freedom fighter and was popular for his non-violent strategies to achieve freedom and the rights people deserve. One of the other most prominent Civil Rights activists was Joe Ann Robinson; she was popular after Rosa Parks was arrested. After encountering verbal abuse in a segregated city bus, Robinson became dedicated to achieving racial rights and began her fight for Civil Rights. She gained national attention and also the support of Martin Luther King Jr. As the entire African American community came together to fight for one single cause, Robinson was one of them; she was a woman who supported the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She became the advocate for Civil Rights with other groups of women and helped in succeeding the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Robinson wrote books to let people all over the world know about what the boycott is about, and to inspire people to stand up for what they believe in. She wrote a letter to the Mayor of the city, and published a memoir, “The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women who started it”.

(Parks and the Bus Boycott). Robinson was always proud of what she achieved, and her pride was never crushed no matter how hard the White Americans tried to intimidate her, arrest her, or even try to hurt her. She was the most active member of WPC and tried her best to show her voice. The Women’s Political Council was the other association led entirely by brave women who did not care about their safety but just focused on their goal to achieve racial rights. The Women's Political Council was created to inspire African Americans to be confident of themselves and be proud of their culture and who they are. Jo Ann Robinson was also part of this group. This group was the first group to call for a boycott of buses during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The group made many efforts to spread the word about the treatment of blacks in public buses. They organized communications, gave free rides to the people who were boycotting buses, and tried securing better treatment for blacks. The Women Council helped spread the word about the boycott in many places. A lot of people started knowing about this boycott, and it gained much attention from time to time. The most important leader who started this great movement was Rosa Parks. The United States Congress honored her as "the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”. On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man in a segregated public bus which sparked the bus boycott. As the bus was crowded, Parks and her other acquaintances needed to give up their seats to a white passenger. The bus driver asked her to give up her seat to the passenger, but she refused and responded with a quiet “No” as she was tired and got into the bus first and wasn’t sitting in the white section. As Parks refused, she was arrested and fined $10 for not following the Jim Crow Laws. This quiet revolution sparked the Bus Boycott, and Parks was always proud of what she achieved and never bowed her head down. She always wanted to achieve the goal of desegregating the buses and was brave enough to take a step forward and even get arrested for achieving her goal.

As the African Americans were continuing with the boycott, they created many ways of how African Americans traveled without using Public Transport. Most of them either walked, carpooled, or hitchhiked. "Later he introduced me to two men, one of whom has walked 7 miles and the other 14 miles, every day since December 5". A lot of African Americans walked long distances just for their cause to be heard and with hard work, belief, and the unifying goal they succeeded in the boycott." One by one, they pledged that, if necessary, they would be arrested again and again." They were even willing to get arrested to achieve their success. The African Americans were persistent, tried their best, came together, and believed that they could succeed in the boycott, and did succeed. They even walked miles and got arrested just for their cause to succeed. This New York Times article shows the losses of the bus sales. Most of the people who ride the buses are African Americans. As the African American community boycotted, the buses were empty and there were no sales. The ticket rates were increased and there was a loss of business. This shows that the Montgomery Bus Boycott is beginning to succeed. Almost only African Americans ride the buses, and the profit the buses receive is usually from them, so when the African Americans boycotted the buses they were not receiving any profits they were losing money.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott began when Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white man. Dr. Martin Luther King was a civil rights leader who led the nonviolent boycott. He always believed in inequality and human rights for African Americans. “The great glory of American Democracy is the right to protest for the right". He always fought for justice peacefully without bloodshed. He was an inspiration for many people. Though Dr. King received numerous death threats for emerging as the leader of the Bus Boycott, the Boycott continued until the Supreme Court made its decision to desegregate buses. It took the civil rights leaders more than a year to get approval from the Supreme Court, which states that segregation in buses is unconstitutional. "The year-old protest against city buses is officially called off, and the African-American citizens of Montgomery are urged to return to the buses tomorrow". King ended the bus boycott after the Supreme court responded by desegregating the buses. The African Americans believed that it was correct to claim equal rights. They wanted to have the same rights as the White Americans and felt that it was unfair to judge which bus seat a person should sit in based on their color, race, religion/gender. Dr. King was the leader of the boycott, and he wanted to get equal rights for his community. The Supreme Court responded by stating that segregation in buses is unconstitutional, which led to the end of the successful non-violent boycott.

The boycott was completed by the African Americans who supported each other, worked hard to reach their goal because they stood up for what they believed in, and contributed and achieved a difference through this nonviolent protest. They faced many struggles, like house bombings, arrests, and intimidation, but they believed in themselves and successfully achieved what they deserve.