THE BATON ROUGE BUS BOYCOTT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

"We brought all of the leaders of the other community organizations in, and recognized them as leaders, so that they would feel a part of the movement, and that it wasn't just my movement. And that was the one thing that kept us together. No matter how the power structure and splinter white groups tried to tear us apart, we were able to maintain a united front."

To end the boycott, the white power structure of Baton Rouge agreed to a compromise. It stipulated that the two side front seats of buses were to be reserved for whites and the long rear seat was for African Americans. The remaining seats were to be occupied on a first-come-first-served basis. The black community agreed to the compromise and the boycott ended on June 25, 1953. This boycott was a major victory against the Jim Crow system in Baton Rouge. The boycott proved that the Jim Crow system could be challenged by mass action in other states. The blueprint of the Baton Rouge boycott was shared with African American leaders in other communities throughout the South. The celebrated Montgomery bus boycott, which was sparked by Rosa Park's refusal to relinquish her seat, borrowed the strategies from the Baton Rouge boycott. Subsequent anti-segregation protests were modeled after the Baton Rouge boycott, which opened the direct action phase of the modern civil rights movement.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic