Montgomery Bus Boycott

Setting the scene

The Montgomery Bus Boycott began on December 5, 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1 for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks, a 42-year-old NAACP secretary, was not the first to resist—teenager Claudette Colvin had been arrested nine months earlier—but Parks' respectability and NAACP backing made her the ideal test case. The boycott was organized by the Montgomery Improvement Association, led by 26-year-old pastor Martin Luther King Jr.

What happened

Black Montgomerians, who comprised 70% of bus riders, boycotted the buses for 381 days, walking, carpooling, or using Black-owned taxis. The city and bus company lost money, and segregationists responded with violence—King's house was bombed, and 89 boycott leaders were arrested. The boycott gained national attention, and the case Browder v. Gayle challenged bus segregation in federal court. On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.

Why it still matters

The boycott ended December 20, 1956, when the ruling took effect. It was the first major victory of the civil rights movement and launched Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence. The boycott demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass protest and economic pressure. It inspired the sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and March on Washington. The Montgomery Bus Boycott proved that sustained, disciplined nonviolent resistance could defeat Jim Crow and became the model for the civil rights movement that transformed America.

Background

Martin Luther King Jr.