The Story of Montgomery

Montgomery, the state capital, is the commercial center of central Alabama with over 200,000 residents. The city has a well known and painful history of racial strife. In fact, many of the events that defined the civil rights movement occurred in Montgomery. The Montgomery Streetcar Act of 1906 was the nation’s first “Jim Crow” law. Nearly 50 years later, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a city bus sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and catapulted the young Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. into the national spotlight. In 1961, the “Freedom Riders” were beaten by an angry mob upon their arrival at Montgomery bus terminal. In 1963, newly elected governor George Wallace delivered his infamous inaugural speech in which he vowed “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” which became the rallying cry for white resistance to civil rights throughout the south.

Forty years after these events, legal segregation is a thing of the past. Federal court orders desegregated public swimming pools, schools, bus stations, parks and other public facilities. Residential patterns of segregation, however, continue. Montgomery and other small cities and towns throughout central Alabama remain starkly segregated.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott & Rosa Parks

On Thursday, December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42 year old African American seamstress, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. In response, the Women’s Political Council distributed fliers throughout the community urging African Americans to boycott the bus line on the day of Mrs. Parks’ trial. On December 5, 1955, four days after her arrest, Mrs. Parks was found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined. That afternoon, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., selected as its president. Later that evening, a mass meeting was held at the Holt Street Baptist Church where it was decided that continuing the bus boycott would be an effective way to protest the segregated bus service.

Virtually all of the African Americans—approximately 50,000 people—who had previously used the bus service now walked, arranged carpools or found other means of transportation. Despite the strong participation in the boycott and the financial hardship experienced by the bus company, the law was not changed. The MIA filed suit in federal court on behalf of those discriminated against by the bus service. On June 2, 1956, a federal court ruled for the MIA and declared segregated bus service to be unconstitutional. The ruling was appealed to the United States Supreme Court which, on November 13, 1956, upheld the lower court’s findings. The boycott ended on December 20, 1956, 381 days after Mrs. Parks’ conviction, when the court order requiring integrated bus service was served to Montgomery officials.

For More Information on the Montgomery Bus Boycott & Rosa Parks, please visit the Rosa Parks Library and Museum website at www.tsum.edu/museum/

The Freedom Rides

In 1960, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) proposed the “Freedom Ride” to test President Kennedy’s commitment to enforcing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Boynton v. Virginia, 364 U.S. 454 (1960) which declared segregation in bus terminals that were open to interstate travelers unconstitutional. CORE’s strategy was to have an interracial group board buses destined for the South, with whites sitting in the back and blacks up front. At rest stops, whites would go into “blacks only” areas and vice versa.

The Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961, scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17, the seventh anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. While traveling through Alabama, the Riders were met with extreme violence. In Anniston, a mob of 200 angry people stoned the bus, slashed the tires and later firebombed the bus six miles outside of town. In Birmingham, a mob attacked the Riders, many of whom were severely beaten.
It appeared that the Freedom Ride was over until a group of Nashville students decided to go to Birmingham and continue the Freedom Ride. With help from Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who was determined to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision the students were guaranteed protection by the local authorities. When the Riders arrived in downtown Montgomery, a mob swarmed around them and began beating them.

When news of the Montgomery attack reached Washington, Robert Kennedy decided to send federal marshals to the city. The Riders were determined to continue the Freedom Ride through Mississippi. When they arrived, they were immediately arrested. By the end of the summer, over 300 Riders had been arrested.

Although the Freedom Riders never made it to New Orleans, their efforts resulted in the Interstate Commerce Commission, at the request of Robert Kennedy, outlawing segregation in interstate bus travel in a ruling that went beyond the Supreme Court ruling in September, 1961.

Selma to Montgomery March

On “Bloody Sunday,” March 7, 1965, 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on U.S. Route 80. When they arrived at the Edmund Pettus Bridge just six blocks away, state and local officers attacked them with clubs and tear gas, forcing them back into Selma. Two days later, in response to the police action at the first march, Martin Luther King, Jr., led a second march to the bridge. Civil rights leaders then sought protection for a third, full scale march from Selma to Montgomery. Federal District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., ruled in favor of the demonstrators, writing “The law is clear that the right to petition one’s government for the redress of grievances may be exercised in large groups and these rights may be exercised by marching, even along public highways.” On March 21, about 3,200 marchers set out for Montgomery, walking 12 miles a day and sleeping in fields. When they arrived in Montgomery on March 25, they were 25,000 strong. Less than five months after the final march, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, considered by many to be the single most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by Congress.

The Fight for Fair Housing in Montgomery

In 1975, the neighborhoods of English Village and Southlawn organized to fight realtors who attempted to promote white flight from their communities through steering and blockbusting. A multi-racial organization, the English Village-Southlawn Community Organization (EVASCO) was formed to stabilize “white flight, improve the community image, and to promote endeavors for community progress.” At the direction of Rev. Billy Nutt, the organization notified federal authorities of potential violations of the Fair Housing Act, sparking an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. This organizing effort is just one example of communities coming together to promote both diversity and fair play.

While there has been progress in the fight for fair housing for all Alabama residents in the last 30 years, there is still much work to be done. Discrimination against minority home seekers unfortunately still persists. Recent testing conducted by the Central Alabama Fair Housing Center has uncovered chronic racial discrimination, most often in the form of steering prospective minority homeowners from predominately white neighborhoods. CAFHC is committed to the complete eradication of discriminatory practices throughout central Alabama and will work vigorously toward that end.