Rosa Parks was going home after working at a department store seamstress. On the way home, the bus driver demanded her seat for other white passengers. When she did not comply, she was arrested.
"Are you going to stand up?" the driver demanded. Rosa Parks looked straight at him and said: "No." Flustered, and not quite sure what to do, Blake retorted, "Well, I'm going to have you arrested." And Parks, still sitting next to the window, replied softly, "You may do that." (Brinkley, Douglas. Rosa Parks. New York: Viking, 2000. Print.)
There were few precedents of challenging bus segregation before Rosa Parks. However, due to Rosa Park’s stature among the African American society, her arrest served as the spark for the Montgomery bus boycott. The boycott was successful. 90 percent of Montgomery’s African American community stayed off the public busses. The protest was originally planned for a one-day protest on December 5th; however, African American clergy and community leaders met and decided at a meeting to extend the boycott that afternoon. The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was also formed that day with Martin Luther King Jr. being the leader of the association.
Although African Americans represented at least 75 percent of Montgomery’s bus ridership, the city resisted complying with the MIA’s demands. To ensure the boycott could be sustained, black leaders organized carpools, and the city’s African-American taxi drivers charged only 10 cents–the same price as bus fare–for African-American riders. Many black residents chose simply to walk to work and other destinations. Black leaders organized regular mass meetings to keep African-American residents mobilized around the boycott. ("Montgomery Bus Boycott." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott>.)
"Are you going to stand up?" the driver demanded. Rosa Parks looked straight at him and said: "No." Flustered, and not quite sure what to do, Blake retorted, "Well, I'm going to have you arrested." And Parks, still sitting next to the window, replied softly, "You may do that." (Brinkley, Douglas. Rosa Parks. New York: Viking, 2000. Print.)
There were few precedents of challenging bus segregation before Rosa Parks. However, due to Rosa Park’s stature among the African American society, her arrest served as the spark for the Montgomery bus boycott. The boycott was successful. 90 percent of Montgomery’s African American community stayed off the public busses. The protest was originally planned for a one-day protest on December 5th; however, African American clergy and community leaders met and decided at a meeting to extend the boycott that afternoon. The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was also formed that day with Martin Luther King Jr. being the leader of the association.
Although African Americans represented at least 75 percent of Montgomery’s bus ridership, the city resisted complying with the MIA’s demands. To ensure the boycott could be sustained, black leaders organized carpools, and the city’s African-American taxi drivers charged only 10 cents–the same price as bus fare–for African-American riders. Many black residents chose simply to walk to work and other destinations. Black leaders organized regular mass meetings to keep African-American residents mobilized around the boycott. ("Montgomery Bus Boycott." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott>.)