On this day in 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to yield her seat on a Montgomery city bus to a White man who had demanded that she move and let him sit down. Rosa, forty-two years old at the time, refused to move. She was arrested minutes later. The next day, a young Black Baptist preacher named Martin Luther King, Jr., organized a boycott of the city bus lines by Black citizens of Montgomery. This boycott lasted for around a year and had substantial impact on the municipal bus line, since over 70% of bus passengers at the time were Black.
The Rosa Parks case was heard by the United States Supreme Court on November 13, 1956. On that date the Supreme Court ruled that Ms. Parks had been illegally arrested because her arrest was based on unconstitutional Alabama state law and Montgomery city ordinances. Immediately after this ruling was handed down, Dr. King called for an end to the bus boycott. Not only that, he called for the Black bus riders to make a point of sitting in the previously "White" sections of the bus. Both Dr. King and Rosa Parks became hated figures in Montgomery; Dr. King more so apparently, because his house was bombed a short time later. Luckily he and his family escaped unharmed.
A couple of things surprised me as I was researching this incident. For one thing, Rosa's decision to refuse to yield her seat to a White man was not actually a "random" decision, nor was it solely based on the fact that Rosa, who worked as a seamstress, was particularly tired that day. In fact, Rosa Parks was a politically "savvy" lady who had joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP) in 1943, after seeing that Black American veterans returning from the fighting in Europe and elsewhere overseas during World War II were not accorded the respect they deserved as veterans. Not only that, they returned home to find the same discrimination and hatred they had faced before risking their lives fighting to keep America free from the Nazi bid to conquer the free world.
In the latter months of 1955 the NAACP had discussed an organized act of mass civil disobedience, such as not relinquishing seats on the bus to White persons upon their demand. So on this December day in 1955, Rosa, apparently acting alone, decided to take the opportunity to commit her act of civil disobedience. She remained seated in her chair until the municipal police came and took her to the city jail. The story might have ended here, had not Dr. King heard of Rosa's arrest and immediately called the Black people of Montgomery into action. Not only did the King-led bus boycott draw nationwide attention, but Rosa Parks' conviction was appealed and would eventually reach the Supreme Court, where it would be reversed.
A second thing that surprised me was that Rosa was already seated in the "Black" section of the bus. Montgomery city ordinances not only required Black passengers to seat themselves in the rear section of the bus, it also required that Black persons already seated in the "Black" section yield their seats upon demand by White persons. A White man told Rosa Parks to get out of her chair and let him sit down. Rosa, not on a whim, but quite deliberately set out to rebel against the unconstitutional laws of her city and state, and to rebel against the institutions and people that kept those unconstitutional laws in place. Even if it meant fighting a one-woman war, Rosa was determined to stand up for her rights...which in this case meant sitting down, keeping her seat in spite of the very real potential for, at best, arrest, at worst, physical violence at the hands of the police, the very ones who should have been protecting her and supporting her constitutional right to use public facilities without fear of discrimination or reprisal.
The Supreme Court handed down the Rosa Parks decision on November 13, 1956. The next month, on December 20, Martin Luther King, Jr. called an end to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The very next day Rosa Parks walked onto her regular bus and, for the first time ever, selected her seat without regard to whether or not she was in the "rear" of the bus, and knowing that she would never again have to yield her seat to anyone because she was Black. No, the Black struggle for equality was not over by any means, but a small victory was won by a single, courageous woman. At the same time, a young preacher, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was propelled into the national spotlight...perhaps taking his first step toward that destiny that awaited him on a fateful evening twelve years later in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Rosa Parks case was heard by the United States Supreme Court on November 13, 1956. On that date the Supreme Court ruled that Ms. Parks had been illegally arrested because her arrest was based on unconstitutional Alabama state law and Montgomery city ordinances. Immediately after this ruling was handed down, Dr. King called for an end to the bus boycott. Not only that, he called for the Black bus riders to make a point of sitting in the previously "White" sections of the bus. Both Dr. King and Rosa Parks became hated figures in Montgomery; Dr. King more so apparently, because his house was bombed a short time later. Luckily he and his family escaped unharmed.
A couple of things surprised me as I was researching this incident. For one thing, Rosa's decision to refuse to yield her seat to a White man was not actually a "random" decision, nor was it solely based on the fact that Rosa, who worked as a seamstress, was particularly tired that day. In fact, Rosa Parks was a politically "savvy" lady who had joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP) in 1943, after seeing that Black American veterans returning from the fighting in Europe and elsewhere overseas during World War II were not accorded the respect they deserved as veterans. Not only that, they returned home to find the same discrimination and hatred they had faced before risking their lives fighting to keep America free from the Nazi bid to conquer the free world.
In the latter months of 1955 the NAACP had discussed an organized act of mass civil disobedience, such as not relinquishing seats on the bus to White persons upon their demand. So on this December day in 1955, Rosa, apparently acting alone, decided to take the opportunity to commit her act of civil disobedience. She remained seated in her chair until the municipal police came and took her to the city jail. The story might have ended here, had not Dr. King heard of Rosa's arrest and immediately called the Black people of Montgomery into action. Not only did the King-led bus boycott draw nationwide attention, but Rosa Parks' conviction was appealed and would eventually reach the Supreme Court, where it would be reversed.
A second thing that surprised me was that Rosa was already seated in the "Black" section of the bus. Montgomery city ordinances not only required Black passengers to seat themselves in the rear section of the bus, it also required that Black persons already seated in the "Black" section yield their seats upon demand by White persons. A White man told Rosa Parks to get out of her chair and let him sit down. Rosa, not on a whim, but quite deliberately set out to rebel against the unconstitutional laws of her city and state, and to rebel against the institutions and people that kept those unconstitutional laws in place. Even if it meant fighting a one-woman war, Rosa was determined to stand up for her rights...which in this case meant sitting down, keeping her seat in spite of the very real potential for, at best, arrest, at worst, physical violence at the hands of the police, the very ones who should have been protecting her and supporting her constitutional right to use public facilities without fear of discrimination or reprisal.
The Supreme Court handed down the Rosa Parks decision on November 13, 1956. The next month, on December 20, Martin Luther King, Jr. called an end to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The very next day Rosa Parks walked onto her regular bus and, for the first time ever, selected her seat without regard to whether or not she was in the "rear" of the bus, and knowing that she would never again have to yield her seat to anyone because she was Black. No, the Black struggle for equality was not over by any means, but a small victory was won by a single, courageous woman. At the same time, a young preacher, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was propelled into the national spotlight...perhaps taking his first step toward that destiny that awaited him on a fateful evening twelve years later in Memphis, Tennessee.
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