African-Americans had finally put their foot down on being treated as the inferior race, although, the South was still being ruled by the Klu Klux Klan and the Jim Crow laws were still prevalent . “The Montgomery Bus Boycott, however, brought the black experience out in the open--literally onto the streets” (McWhorter 43). “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Rosa Parks (Freedman 23). The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also known as the NAACP, played a major role in organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott and advocating for the black community during the boycott (McWhorter 44). Rosa Parks had the black community’s support after her arrest, they organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott which led to violence and eventually changed the laws.
Rosa Parks was the spark that ignited the fire that was to be written in the history books as The Civil Rights Movement. Rosa’s situation was perfect to kick off the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She was just an innocent forty-seven year old seamstress sitting in the bus. Rosa probably never thought that she would be the cause of this whole event, she simply did not feel like being treated as a second class citizen if “All men are created equal.” Segregation in the South was standard. Although, some knew it was morally unjust to separate people according to their race, they did it anyways. The colored people in the South, for the most part, could not imagine that there were things called Civil Rights (Aretha 15-16). The Klu Klux Klan ruled the South. Colored people were afraid to stand up for themselves because they knew that there was a chance that they could get lynched. Claudette Colvin was a fifteen year old girl who was kicked off the bus in Montgomery because she was seated in the white area (Freedman 23). The NAACP did not think that the Claudette incident would be enough to get the attention of the city officials. The court in Montgomery accused Claudette of assault and battery, knowing that she did not lay her hands on anyone she simply did not move out of her seat (History Learning Site). Adding the Rosa Parks case to the Claudette Colvin case would have made things look like there was a trend in blacks being kicked off the bus. The day that Rosa decided not to get out of her seat there were three other black people seated with her. They were hesitant but when the bus driver, J.Fred Blake, threatened to arrest them they moved and let him have the seats (Freedman 27 and McWhorter 40).
Rosa Parks was supported by the black community after her arrest. Rosa’s defense attorney for her case was Clifford Durr a white man. Clifford and his wife Virginia stuck beside Rosa as if they were family even though she was black. In the summer of 1955, Rosa attended a one week seminar about promoting integration. The Durr family stood by Rosa because they knew she was not a bad person, she had worked for them as their seamstress. Although Rosa was confident that she could take down segregation on buses, her family still feared for her life (Freedman 25-31).
The boycott took the effort of every black person in Montgomery. The boycott was almost called off because there were many house maids who were requesting to get December 1, 1955 which was the first day of the boycott (The Alabama Moments). Jo Ann Robinson, president of the Women’s Political Council, was a major supporter and participant in the boycott. She stayed up all night to make posters for the boycotters (Freedman 10). The WPC had already tried to protest but no one paid attention to them.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a another person in history who was a part of the boycott. At the time, King was a young pastor when he decided to join the boycott. Martin’s home was bombed as a result of people hearing about the boycott. He warned the Negroes