Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Montgomery Bus Boycott



For Tuesday, please read the chapter titled “The Montgomery Bus Boycott,” from Taylor Branch’s Parting the Waters: America During the King Years, 1954–63; and then, by the start of Tuesday’s class, please post to our discussion board a 250–300-word response to the following:
You are likely familiar with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the protest action against racial segregation that began when African American Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. The Boycott was not only a successful protest campaign in its own right; it quickly became a potent and enduring symbol of the quest for social justice nationally and globally, inaugurating the Civil Rights Movement in America and inspiring similar mass movements around the world. What, in your opinion, is the secret of the Boycott’s social and symbolic power? That is, why, do you believe, did the Boycott succeed in striking such a powerful blow against the injustice of segregation? And why has it also succeeded so well in embodying the idea of social justice more broadly?
The Branch chapter is on Blackboard, in the Content folder. Please note that it’s in two parts (i.e., two PDF files). The chapter focuses on the Boycott itself, not on the episode involving Rosa Parks that sparked it. If you'd like to learn more about Rosa Parks's act of protest, you can read this story from the LA Times