Montgomery Bus Boycott and Impact Flashcards
1
Q
What did public transport in the South look like?
A
- Racial segregation embedded
- Whites sat in front
- Blacks sat at the back
- If busy, the Blacks in the middle had to stand
2
Q
What led to the boycott?
A
- 42 year old seamstress, Rosa Park
- Active of NAACP locally, worked on desegregation of public transport
- Travelling home from work
- Sat in the middle although it was busy (she was meant to stand)
- She refused to give up her seat when driver asked repeatedly
- Police was called and she was arrested
3
Q
When was Rosa Parks arrested?
A
1st of December 1955
4
Q
What was the MIA? (purpose, when, chairman)
A
- Montgomery Improvement Association
- Set up a few days after Rosa Park’s arrest (use spark to start a fire)
- To improve integration in Montgomery
- Martin Luther King Jr was its chairman
5
Q
What did the MIA do?
A
- Organised boycott of buses
- Sustained for a year
- Inflicted economic hardship on the bus companies
6
Q
What led to the desegregation of transport?
A
- Strictly speaking, ruling of the Supreme court
- Economic dimension increased the chances that the law would be practiced
7
Q
To what extent was the Montgomery Bus Boycott significant?
A
- Martin Luther King Jr emerged as a talented and influential campaigner
- Buses in Montgomery were integrated (first-come first-served basis)
- Showed that when large numbers of African Americans took direct action, it would bring about a change
- Demonstrated the effectiveness of non-violence in gaining support
- Events after Brown v Topeka proved that changing the law was not enough to achieve equality
8
Q
To what extent was the Montgomery Bus Boycott insignificant? (what did it lead to?)
A
- Led to change in only a small area
- Other facilities in Montgomery remained segregated
- Membership for racist groups rose
- Boycott marked an increase in violence
- Backslash from KKK, intimidated and attacked African Americans
- Wave of African American church bombings and home of several Civil Rights leaders
