Essay on Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1, 1955, a Black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a White man in Montgomery, Alabama. This relatively obscure act revitalized the Civil Rights movement. When the NAACP became aware of the arrest, they immediately saw it as an opportunity to challenge segregation on Public transportation. They called all of the local political and religious leaders together and asked them to support a one-day boycott in protest to Mrs. Parks' arrest. One of the pastors called was a young minister named Martin Luther King Jr. The boycott was an immediate success. Over 75% of Montgomery's Black residents regularly used the bus system. On the day of the boycott, only 8 Blacks were observed riding buses.
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Based on the success of this action, the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed. The young minister from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Martin King, was unanimously elected as president of the association. There first action was to plan a permanent boycott of the bus system until three demands were met: 1) courteous treatment on buses; 2) seating on a first-come, first-served basis; and 3) Black bus drivers on predominately Black routes. When these demands were met, Blacks would again ride the city buses. City officials were amused by the demands. After the first month of the boycott, it was not so amusing. White downtown business owners were beginning to feel the effect of the boycott. Even White families who used Blacks as maids were upset that they had to travel miles to bring them to work.
Whites began retaliating for these actions. Blacks were arrested for simply walking down the street. Two months after the boycott began, Dr. King's home was fire bombed. After eleven months, many Blacks were beginning to doubt if the city would ever give in. They thought their efforts were in vein. Then, the Supreme Court issued its ruling, "The United States Supreme Court today affirmed a decision of a special three-judge U.S. District Court in declaring Alabama's state and local laws requiring segregation on buses unconstitutional." The boycott was an arousing success and it brought one Martin Luther King Jr. to prominence. For the NAACP's role in the boycott, the Alabama state legislature banned the organization from the state.
This past summer I lost a friend of an overdose. I have friends that have succeeded in staying clean. The problem needs to be addressed here at (school name here). People do have the money to get the drugs but can we get the drug dealers at least out of the school. Once you start with weed you want to try harsher drugs, and you will end up being addicted and being addicted means your sick and need help. This problem needs to be controlled not by the authorities but by us the students too.
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