How The Montgomery Bus Boycott Impacted The Civil Rights of The African-american

Introduction

To a large extent, the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956 can be considered the most important turning point for the development of African-American civil rights in the period from 1865 to 1992. In order to regard a period as a turning point, it must be established whether it brought about social, political, and economic change. The Montgomery Bus Boycott promised greater equality for African-Americans through the desegregation of buses and the widespread change it provided. It is useful to contrast the Montgomery Bus Boycott with other possible turning points in order to judge its overall significance. The Reconstruction Era could also be considered a turning point because African-Americans gained more freedom and better opportunities. Additionally, the Brown v. Board of Education case could be considered a turning point as it created an important legal precedent. However, both of these periods failed to bring about all three kinds of change. Therefore, it will be seen that, to a large extent, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was the most important turning point in the development of African-American civil rights from 1865 to 1992.

The Impact of the Montgomery Bus Boycott on Civil Rights

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was not the first example of direct action protest, but it was the first to be truly effective in the aspects of social, political, and economic change. The success allowed the movement to gain momentum and continue winning in the 1960s. The Montgomery Bus Boycott gained near-unanimous support from ordinary black men and women, giving them a chance to participate in an activity that involved effort but avoided danger, hence making the event widespread. Furthermore, it can be argued that the Montgomery Bus Boycott was long-lasting as it persisted for over a year (December 1, 1955 – December 20, 1956) and was pivotal in leading desegregation efforts.

African Americans demonstrated that they could organize a protest and cooperate with each other with minimal white participation, while nonetheless affecting white Americans. The boycott put financial pressure on the authorities who initially unwisely refused the slightest concessions. Moreover, in November 1956, after an initiative by the NAACP, the Supreme Court in Browder v. Gayle gave another favorable verdict due to this event. It ruled segregation on buses to be unconstitutional with similar reasoning to the Linda Brown case (McNeese, 2007). A significant blow had been made to the vast tent of segregation. Furthermore, the Montgomery Bus Boycott brought to light one of the key black activists, Martin Luther King Jr., making it a politically active and important rally, highlighting just how significant the change was.

It may be argued that to some extent, social change was minimal in the Montgomery Bus Boycott as the attitudes of white Americans towards African Americans did not change significantly. However, it could be seen that they were more aware of the unity and strength of the Black American community. Although this event certainly changed the attitudes of the Federal Government as it demonstrated the power of a united black community and it gave the civil rights movement the success and awareness it needed, it could be argued that this was not necessarily a turning point but instead a manifestation of the build-up in tension as a result of other turning points (Garrow, 1986).

Reconstruction Era: A Comparative Turning Point

The Reconstruction Era can be shown to have brought about considerable, long-lasting change through key pieces of legislation and constitutional amendments. The Emancipation Proclamation secured the freedom of all African-Americans, and slavery was permanently abolished. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments achieved further political rights for African-Americans and provided lasting change. However, the improvements to the social and economic status of blacks were not long-lasting because of sharecropping and the end of Reconstruction (Foner, 1988).

Overall, the period from 1865 to 1877 brought about some lasting change, but only in the context of political rights. World War II, in contrast, achieved greater social and economic change, but these changes were not as long-lasting. The greater opportunities afforded to African-Americans, particularly in the north, by the wartime economy helped to improve socio-economic status. However, the return of white soldiers at the end of the war, who found that their jobs had been occupied by black workers, led to renewed racial hostility, and ultimately negated any positive change achieved (Sitkoff, 1978).

Johnson's Presidency and Legal Progress

Compared to both earlier periods, Johnson’s presidency secured long-lasting, permanent change that improved African-Americans' status in society and access to political rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped to end de jure segregation in the United States for good, and the Voting Rights Act of the following year finally secured African-Americans’ access to the right to vote, 100 years after the end of slavery. Although this event was an immense turning point, the change created by this was not a continued change, as after the end of the Reconstruction Era in 1877, any rights African Americans were given were reversed. Black codes were put in place, segregation was made legal in the South, and white supremacist groups continued to discriminate with the emergence of such groups as the KKK (Dudziak, 2000).

Ultimately, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a much more successful turning point as it created leading change and a legal precedent to end the segregation which started with the Reconstruction Era. Nonetheless, it may be argued that if it wasn’t for the amendments and their lack of implementation, then perhaps the quest for civil rights would have come at a much later time.

The Linda Brown Case: Legal and Political Ramifications

The Linda Brown Supreme Court case of 1954 was also a landmark turning point, especially legally and politically. The decision created an important legal precedent and was expected to produce major change. It did so in a number of places outside the Deep South where segregation had still prevailed up to this point. However, the progress was not quick, as by 1957 less than 12 percent of the school districts in the South had been integrated (Kluger, 1975).

There was resistance in the South to the whole principle of integration using the states’ rights argument. The federal government was seen as acting dictatorially in seeking to impose its values and opinions on those of different states. Though the Brown decision had limited immediate impact, it was a turning point. Of all the federal institutions, the independent judiciary showed they no longer had political difficulties concerning positive action over civil rights that were still present in Congress and the Presidency. With this decision, the Warren Court ended the vice-like grip of the Plessy v. Ferguson precedent which had dominated the relations between blacks and whites ever since (Patterson, 2001).

By going further than merely attacking inequalities, and insisting on the psychological need for integration of the black minority, more liberal verdicts were to follow, hence making this a leading change. Moreover, the verdict gave many southern black people a belief in the American political social system and Constitution that Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders were later able to exploit effectively. It was also a vindication of the legal strategy of the NAACP. Nonetheless, although this change could be argued to have changed some mindsets and attitudes, it was hard to implement, and the idea that “you can change laws but you can’t change hearts and minds” rang true, as the Reconstruction Era and the Montgomery Bus Boycott also prove.

To this case, there was huge white resistance and furthermore, it was unclear on when desegregation should take place, other than with “all deliberate speed”. Furthermore, it has been criticized that the Court could have followed up its original verdict with a more vigorous attempt at enforcement, hence speeding up the process of Civil Rights considerably. Conclusively, it can be seen that the Montgomery Bus Boycott was of a much larger importance as a turning point as it changed the attitudes of white Americans to a higher extent than the Brown Case by emphasizing the unity and power of the Black Americans (Branch, 1988).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be seen that the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956 brought about the most significant examples of widespread and leading change, and also enacted some revolutionary change through the creation of political, social, and economic change. It can therefore be regarded as the most important turning point in the development of African-American civil rights from 1865 to 1992. Although the Reconstruction Era also brought about leading and revolutionary change, in the form of federal actions and constitutional amendments, some groups in African-American society did not reap the benefits, and it cannot be regarded as providing clear widespread change.

It was, however, more significant than the Brown v. Board of Education case, which, although optimistic about improving the social and economic lot of African-Americans, can be considered too slow of a change to actually have been effective in itself. Hence, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was the most important turning point in civil rights for African Americans from 1865 to 1992 through the demonstration of the immense power of the African Americans (Robinson, 2005).

References

• Branch, T. (1988). Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963. Simon and Schuster.
• Dudziak, M. L. (2000). Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy. Princeton University Press.
• Foner, E. (1988). Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Harper & Row.
• Garrow, D. J. (1986). Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. William Morrow & Co.
• Kluger, R. (1975). Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality. Knopf.
• McNeese, T. (2007). The Montgomery Bus Boycott. Chelsea House Publications.
• Patterson, J. T. (2001). Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy. Oxford University Press.
• Robinson, J. A. (2005). The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It: The Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson. University of Tennessee Press.
• Sitkoff, H. (1978). A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil Rights as a National Issue. Oxford University Press.