In December 1955, Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, led to a boycott of buses. For over a year the city's 50,000 black people travelled by other means, mostly on foot
2.2 cutting
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2.2b
BUS COMPANY INCURRING HEAVY LOSSES
2.2c The Times, Feb 23, 1956
2.2d caption
Rosa Parks was convicted of violating Montgomery's segregation laws; and those involved in the bus boycott were charged with conspiring to prevent the bus company from carrying on its business. In February 1956, however, a suit was filed in federal district court asking for Montgomery's segregation laws to be declared unconstitutional
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2.4b SUPREME COURT OUTLAWS SEGREGATED BUSES
2.4 c The Times, Feb 7, 1956
2.4d caption
The Montgomery bus boycott was ultimately successful, and began the move towards ensuring desegregation in other areas, including education. In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional, but southern states had failed to comply with the judgement
2.5 picture Magnum shot of school in Little Rock
2.5b caption
In 1957, President Eisenhower sent paratroopers to Little Rock High School, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation. "Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts", he said. One soldier was assigned to each student to ensure their safety
NUGGETS
5.1 A poster for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said: "You can kill a man but you can't kill an idea"
5.2 In the Fifties the wages of black people in America were half those of whites
5.3 "It started in 1955, but it was 1956 when we really understood that there was a movement in progress. It was the first time that black people in this country had stood up in one particular area as a united force." Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King
5.4 In the southern states in the Fifties, three quarters of black people eligible to vote were not registered
5.5 Announcing the end of the Montgomery bus boycott, Martin Luther King said: "It wasn't a victory for colored folks. Don't make it that small. It wasn't merely a victory for 16 million Negroes of America. It was a victory for justice."