White and Opposition Reaction
"Negroes, Look Around You," by Hill Lindsay
Published in the Montgomery Advertiser, January 13, 1956
Editor, The Advertiser:
The white people of Montgomery are typical of the other white people of America, slow to anger and slow to make up their minds. But once they do they have always come out victorious.
The bus fare has already been raised 50%. Should you continue the bus boycott six months the loss would be repaid in 18 moths and you will keep on paying and paying as long as you live. So what have you gained?
Where is your appreciation, your sense of duty? Look around your home. Who furnished "know how" to prepare your foods and medicines, give you electricity, make your clothes, design and build your cars and every other convience that you so richly enjoy, that goes with civilization. Now what have you done for yourself?
You are indebted to the white people of Montgomery for life itself. As the white doctor brought most of you into the world. The white man paid about 95 percent for your education, furnished you jobs and a place to live, etc. Now suppose the white people of Montgomery would not hire you any longer or give you a place to live, where would you go or do?
Hill Lindsay
At the beginning of the bus boycott, white citizens believed that it would end quickly. They thought it was a whimsical and impulsive idea. However, when they began to realize the stoic nature of the boycotters they began to panic. They started by trying to meet with black leaders to come up with a compromise. Several meetings occurred, but to no avail; black leaders wanted full integration, while white leaders did not. Even the businessman of downtown Montgomery requested to meet with MIA leaders in order to help end the boycott. Ultimately though, they were only after economic improvement because blacks were not frequenting the downtown area as much. Many whites began to become hostile and frustrated with the highly orchestrated movement, and began to increase the tactics used to end the boycott.
To the boycotters, the whites who were anti-boycott, such as the Montgomery County government were known as the opposition. They tried to turn the people against the leader's (like saying that the MIA leaders were all driving around in cars, while everyone else was walking), they tried to disunite MIA leaders by plotting them against one another, and they also resorted to boldly lying and spreading false rumors about the movement.
The tactic of spreading false information was utilized by the Montgomery City Council, when they announced that the boycott would be over on January 22, 1956. The newspaper article stated that the following settlment was reached with the consent of important black minister's:
1. guaurantee of courtesy
2. white reserved seating in the front, black reserved seating in the back, and a middle section that would be first come first serve
3. all black buses during rush hour
However, with the exeption of the first statement it was a repetition of the status quo, and a black reporter questioned the validity of the statement when he read the article over the wire. He was able to warn black leaders of the situation, and they spread the word that the boycott was not over.
Again feeling defeat, white opposition began to increase their
tactics. The mayor even went on television openly opposing the
movement stating that his commission was going to "stop
pussy-footing around with the boycott" since most whites in
Montgomery did not care if blacks rode the bus or not. Violence
was the next method that was utilized in trying to stop the
movement. Prominent leaders recieved death threats and phone
calls. Boycotters often got harassed while walking to work and
school. The last straw was on January 30, King's house was bombed
followed by E.D. Nixon's less than a week later. But, the
violence did not stop the boycotters, and the protest went on.
King called for peace in spite of the violent actions, and
citizens though outraged, remained calm.
Montgomery Advertiser, February 11, 1956
Preview of the 'Declaration of Segregation'
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to abolish the Negro race, proper methods should be used. Among these are guns, bows and arrows, sling shots and knives.
We hold these truths to be self evident that all whites are created equal with certain human rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of niggers.
In every stage of the bus boycott we have been oppressed and degraded because of black, slimy, juicy, unbearably stinking niggers. The conduct should not be dwelt upon because of dead niggers. The conduct should not be dwelt upon because behind them they have an ancestral background of Pigmies, head hunters and snot snot suckers.
My friends it is time we wised up to these black devils. I tell you they are a group of two legged agitators who persist in walking up and down our streets protruding their black lips. If we don't stop helping these African flesh eaters, we will soon wake up and find Rev. King in the White House. LET'S GET ON THE BALL WHITE CITIZENS
The Book "Declaration of Segregation
" will appear April, 1956. If this appeals to you be sure to
read the book.
After the violent approach did not intimidate African Americans into using the buses, they turned to the law. Black drivers were then routinely harassed by cops for minor or false driving violations. Drivers of carpools could not find insurance policies and even blacks waiting for rides would get arrested for hitchhicking. The harrasment began to take its toll on the black community and people became frustrated by the movement. However, after cops arrested Martin Luther King jr, and jailed him for a minor traffic violation the people were weary but angered.
The oppositional forces also found an old government law that outlawed boycotts. So on February 21, 90 people, including King and Abernathy were arrested for boycotting. However, this method failed because not only did people come down and volunteer to be arrested, but this stirred a national media frenzy. On March 22 King, the first to be tried, was convicted of violating an anti-boycott law and fined $500 dollars plus courtroom fees. However, this was a victory for the defendants because they had proved to the opposition that they were serious, unified, and weren't holding back.
"The members of the opposition had also revealed that they did not know the Negroes with whom they were dealing. They thought they were dealing with a group who could be cajoled or forced to do whatever the white man wanted them to do. They were not dealing with Negroes who had been freed from fear. And so every move they made proved to be a mistake. It could not be otherwise, because their methods were geared to the "old Negro," and they were dealing with the "new Negro"--Martin Luther King jr.
However, it should also be noted that there were many
supporters, of the movement other than blacks. Many southern
whites also supported the movement and often risked contempt and
scorn from their peers by doing so. People such as the Clifford
and Virginia Durr and Glenn Smiley were crucial to the success of
the boycott by influencing their peers about the need for
integration. Not all whites felt as radical as some of the people
in the previous letters; many were indifferent or just didn't
want to cause trouble for themselves. As the next letter shows,
many whites strongly sympathized and participated in the boycott.
Overbearing Bus Drivers
Montgomery Advertiser, January 4, 1956
Editor, The Advertiser:
As the magnificent and successful boycott continues I would like to make it a matter of record that there are white bus riders in Montgomery who are honoring the request of our colored friends by refraining from patronizing the city lines in an effort to express our sympathy.
The demands of the Negro populace are extremely moderate and within the law. I challenge any legal light in the state to show how these modest requests are outside the law, through city hall politicians, City Lines counsel, and curbstone lawyers continue to praddle about the sacrosanct inviolateness of state statues.
Man and boy, I have ridden street cars and buses in Montgomery for over 40 years. Seamy and sordid have been the scenes I witnessed. The charges brought by the Negro protestants in their paid advertisement of Dec 25 are confirmed by personal observation many times over.
Answering the mayor's appeal to save the franchise by patroizing the bus lines, here is one white ex-bus rider who would like to declare that as long as the boycott is on, it will be a dreary, rainy day, when I have sprained by ankle, and less than 45 cents cab fare before I board one of those yellow rolling cell blocks again.
William T. Sheenan
Even after the boycott ended in late 1956 there were still resistance methods used by oppositional forces. One group tried, unsuccessfully to start a whites only bus line. Then there was rash acts of violence. Shots were being fired into newly integrated buses, along with several bombings. This included the homes of two black leaders, four baptist churches, a black cab and a gas station.
Hate groups such as the KKK tried to scare blacks off the buses but when other whites denounced this violence it died down. The nonviolent movement was successful against opposition forces and whites were forced to accept integration whether they liked it or not.
What was the Montgomery bus boycott
Montgomery, Alabama circa 1955
Read the law that called for segregation on the buses
White reaction and oppositional forces