BDC CH. 11 Flashcards
What started the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
Rosa Parks arrest
- refused to give up seat to white passenger
- mobilized entire black pop. in AL capital city
- 50,000 walked to work/gave each other lifts for 381 days
- astounded the world + ended in victory
(RMFA)
Why do some people feel that it was white obstinacy not black planning that led to the victory in the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
- blacks never asked for end to segregation on buses just separate but equal
- had already been bus boycott in LA two years earlier that ended after a week
- both sides able to come to an agreement on “separate but equal” facilities
- AL whites refused to give any concessions which prolonged boycott + prompted blacks to demand more
(BHBA)
Why could the Montgomery Bus Boycott have happened anywhere in the South?
black resentment of bus segregation was widespread
- black protests about bussing increasingly common
- May 18, 1953 = public bus protests in Richmond, VA by 1000 blacks
(BM)
Who was Rosa Parks?
- joined NAACP in 1943 (became Montgomery branch secretary)
- attended a school desegregation workshop a couple months before arrest in TN
JA
Who was Edgar Daniel Nixon?
- one of the primary organizers of the bus boycott
- most prominent black activist in Montgomery
- idolized A Phillip Randolph
- stalwart of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
- served as Montgomery NAACP president rom 1946-50
- headed state NAACP org.
- head of Progressive Democratic Association
(OMISSHH)
Who was Jo An Robinson?
- English professor at AL State College
- enlisted Women’s Political Council to spread the word after Parks arrest
- printed thousands of flyers announcing the boycott
(EEP)
What does the speed + enthusiasm w/ which blacks were organizing the bus boycott underline?
blacks were initiating not simply reacting
- Dec. 2, 1955 = ED Nixon calls meeting to involve black ministers in boycott to announce to pulpits
- committee formed + resolutions drafted + officers elected that Sunday afternoon
- creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)
- MIA scheduled mass meeting on Monday to gauge support (black leaders across state showed support)
(DCCM)
Who did they select as president of the MIA?
MLK
- relatively unknown at this point
- transplant from Atlanta
- people saw him as a neutral figure who could bridge factions w/in MIA
- also very articulate/well educated
(RTPA)
What were the MIA’s demands for public transport changes?
- sought courteous treatment from bus drivers
- no seats reserved exclusively for race
- employment of black bus drivers on routes that went through mainly black neighborhoods
(SNE)
Why did many feel that the MIA’s demands could have been solved much quicker?
- first could be easily obtained through written commitment
- third was discard MIA willing to part w/ for first two
- first come first serve seating already operated in AL city of Mobile (did not entail scrapping segregation)
(FTF)
Why did whites refuse to accept the first come first serve seating arrangement in Montgomery?
- insisted they couldn’t yield w/o violating state/city segregation laws
- Brown decision hardened white attitudes
- whites thought abolishment of race based seating would encourage blacks to up demands
(IBW)
When the last of the negotiations failed in Montgomery what did the city try to do to trick blacks?
falsely announced that the issue had been settled
- plan failed
- three city commissioners than tried to break up the protest by joining white Citizens Council
- police began to harass/arrest drivers who operated car pools for blacks for MIA transport system
- King + Nixon ultimately arrested
(PTPK)
How did the actions taken by the Citizens Council in Montgomery backfire?
- Kings arrest incensed black people
- convinced MIA to keep pressing boycott w/ such high support for leader
KC
What fateful decision did the MIA take following King’s arrest that transformed the character of the boycott?
MIA agreed to challenge segregation laws in court w/ NAACP assistance
- protest no longer became local affair
- was now the cutting edge for the struggle for integration in the South
- MIA knew that it came w/ a big risk as longer the protest more people at risk
- felt emotion behind protest was so strong it wouldn’t die out
(PWMF)
How did Southern white tactics to undermine the Montgomery boycott backfire?
instead of undermining it they strengthened it
- blacks learned that white repression could be turned to their advantage
- were able to maintain tactical initiative + moral advantage in spite of white violence/harassment
(BW)
What was the situation in Montgomery w/ the indictment of the ministers?
115 people + 24 ministers indicted
- those under indictment decided to turn themselves in
- MIA leaders marched themselves to police station
- prosecution of ministers riled up ordinary blacks + grew protest even stronger
(TMP)
What was another reason besides blacks using their tactics against them that white persecution failed?
helped turn Montgomery bus boycott into international story
- dozens of reporters from across the country came to report
- MIA flooded w/ letters of support from everywhere
- checks arrived from abroad as donations
(DMC)
What happened in June 1956?
Browder v. Gayle = three judge federal court ruled city/state bus segregation laws are unconstitutional
- decision affirmed in November by Supreme Court
- MIA would end boycott on Dec. 20 when order went into effect
(DM)
What has been been the NAACP’s argument about the significance of the bus boycott?
NAACP resented that the MIA refused to accept its leadership
- said the lawsuit not economic pressure/mass protest brought about integration
- several historians agree saying Supreme Court was gonna rule against bus segregation soon anyway
- bus boycott didn’t end bus segregation through whole South (many Southern cities ignored Court order)
- MIA would eventually be bogged down by factionalism
(SSBM)
What did the Montgomery Bus Boycott serve as?
the psychological turning point for blacks
- an absence of violent retaliation on the part of whites (Thurgood Marshall had predicted opposite)
- unity had brought strength (institutional importance of black church played key role)
(AU)
What was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
- created Jan. 1957
- made up of black ministers
- cemented new union between black church + civil rights struggle
- nonviolent approach
- melded black Christianity w/ Gandhi like mass action tactics
- led by MLK
(CMCNML)
What was the SCLC attempting to do in the South?
fill the void left by the repression of the NAACP
- AL became SCLC principle base (NAACP has ceased all operation in the state)
What made the SCLC different than the NAACP?
- an indigenous Southern movement (did not have to combat Northern intervention argument)
- based upon the black church (situated religion above politics)
- appealed to American values through appealing to religion (made them less vulnerable to repression)
- loose structure afforded extra layer of protection (no individual members = no members list issues)
(ABAL)