Describe the impact of the Montgomery bus boycott
During the 1940s and 1950s there was little practical progress made in civil rights, NAACP had been concentrating on, ironically, lawful ways to fix what was wrong with the justice system, they had been focusing on court cases and representation. There had been some advances, e.g the Brown case which deemed that segregated education was indeed unconstitutional. However although the case invoked passion across America it was the Montgomery bus boycott which was a turning point for civil rights, it showed Alabama that African Americans were serious, and willing to go to great lengths for their cause.
Rosa Parks was a dignified and respected women, she was friendly to neighbours and believed strongly in equality. Her attitude and reputation already gave her the moral high ground against opponents. Parks decided she did not want to give up her seat for a black man and was subsequently arrested, her arrest and trial sparked outrage across the black community and there was a call for action, for something direct to be done. Thus the boycott was implemented. The boycott was different previous attempts at gaining civil rights, Civil rights leaders and groups such as NAACP had tried court action with moderate success and not enough progress.
The boycott had a huge impact on the way people saw the African American community of Montgomery. Instead of a lower class, violent, unorganised extreme revolutionaries they saw a group of dignified, ordinary people, who had organised themselves efficiently, banded together, were passive, using non violence and still getting peoples attention. It not only showed that violence isn't the only form of direct action, but demonstrated that these people were not the lower class unintelligent people that some whites had previously thought. The boycotters set up their own taxi and car pool services, highlighting how prepared and organised they were, they demonstrated to the white community that they did not need them and were not prepared to be treated as inferior. Even though the taxi services were costly and took a lot of planning the African American community showed their determination by going that extra mile rather than give in to segregated buses.
During the 1940s and 1950s there was little practical progress made in civil rights, NAACP had been concentrating on, ironically, lawful ways to fix what was wrong with the justice system, they had been focusing on court cases and representation. There had been some advances, e.g the Brown case which deemed that segregated education was indeed unconstitutional. However although the case invoked passion across America it was the Montgomery bus boycott which was a turning point for civil rights, it showed Alabama that African Americans were serious, and willing to go to great lengths for their cause.
Rosa Parks was a dignified and respected women, she was friendly to neighbours and believed strongly in equality. Her attitude and reputation already gave her the moral high ground against opponents. Parks decided she did not want to give up her seat for a black man and was subsequently arrested, her arrest and trial sparked outrage across the black community and there was a call for action, for something direct to be done. Thus the boycott was implemented. The boycott was different previous attempts at gaining civil rights, Civil rights leaders and groups such as NAACP had tried court action with moderate success and not enough progress.
The boycott had a huge impact on the way people saw the African American community of Montgomery. Instead of a lower class, violent, unorganised extreme revolutionaries they saw a group of dignified, ordinary people, who had organised themselves efficiently, banded together, were passive, using non violence and still getting peoples attention. It not only showed that violence isn't the only form of direct action, but demonstrated that these people were not the lower class unintelligent people that some whites had previously thought. The boycotters set up their own taxi and car pool services, highlighting how prepared and organised they were, they demonstrated to the white community that they did not need them and were not prepared to be treated as inferior. Even though the taxi services were costly and took a lot of planning the African American community showed their determination by going that extra mile rather than give in to segregated buses.
