The March on Washington

Brown and Boycotts

At the end of World War II, black people were newly energized. They had unions and organizers to lead them. In the 1950s, NAACP challenged America’s segregated school system. Black parents had learned they couldn’t enroll their kids in the local schools because they were only for white children. But the schools for white children were closer. Linda Brown, one of the children, was a black third grader living in Topeka, Kansas. To get to the black school, she’d have to walk six blocks, cross railroad tracks, and take a two mile bus ride. The NAACP sued the Topeka Board of Education. The case—Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas—went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Thurgood Marshall argued the side of Brown. Marshall showed that separating children by color was unequal. Marshall demanded a change to the law. All nine of the Supreme Court Justices, who were all white men, voted against school segregation. Now, black children could legally go to the same school as white children.

In 1955, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin was riding home on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She had been studying the Bill of Rights in school. When the bus driver told Claudette to give up her seat to a white passenger, she refused. Claudette realized she was being treated unfairly, and she could do something to change the system. By staying seated, Claudette was showing an example of civil disobedience. Even though she was fifteen, she was arrested and thrown in jail.

Later that year, eighteen-year-old Mary Louise Smith followed in her path, refusing to give up her bus seat. She was also thrown in jail. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was riding on a bus in the “colored” section at the back. As the bus filled up, the driver told her to give up her seat for a white man. Rosa refused. She was arrested and jailed. A local group called the Women’s Political Council decided to stage a one-day boycott of the Montgomery city buses. They asked all black people to refuse to ride the bus on Monday, December 5. They argued that if Negroes didn’t ride the buses, the buses couldn’t operate. This was a form of economic protest.

Although it was difficult for black Americans to stop using the bus, they knew they had to be strong in order to make big changes. Instead of their boycott lasting one day, it lasted more than a year. Black people formed a group called the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), and they chose twenty-six-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to be their leader. They organized carpools so people could get to work. Each night, the black community met in King’s church to sing and listen to speeches. They showed one another they were not alone.

Without black riders, the bus company lost between thirty and forty thousand fares each day. By January, the bus company was nearly broke, but it continued functioning without its black passengers. In December 1956, the Supreme Court made segregated buses illegal.

The bus boycott showed young African Americans they could use their voices to fight for fairer conditions in their towns. All over the country, black students started their own economic protests. In Greensboro, North Carolina, one of the most famous economic protests began on February 1, 1960. Four black college students sat down at a lunch counter in a Woolworth’s store and asked for coffee. The lunch counter was for whites only, so the waitress refused to serve them. The four students didn’t move. They refused to leave until the store closed. The next day, there were twenty-seven students. The day after, sixty-three out of the sixty-five seats were filled with black students. On the fourth day, 100 students filled the store. With every seat occupied by a black person, the lunch counter couldn’t make any money.

The students taught each other how to be organized during their protest. They had to sit in shifts, and not respond with violence even when they were attacked by angry white crowds. White people shouted at them, and others would throw food and drinks at them. Some white people would hit them. But the students remained seated and did not fight back.

Afraid of the violence, white people would avoid downtown stores. Black customers boycotted them. Without customers, stores in the South were in serious trouble. In the North, people protested outside Woolworth’s stores and boycotted them. On July 25, 1960, they agreed to desegregate the lunch counters. Once again, economic protests had managed to create real change.

Boycott!

Once a month, families from Melody’s neighborhood get together for a meeting of the Block Club. The kids play games, while their parents discuss what’s going on in Detroit and the community. Melody overhears the adults discussing Fieldston’s Clothing Store. Apparently, they act as if every Negro customer is going to steal something, even though they’re in the middle of a Negro community. Melody’s father says that’s not right.

Melody barges into the living room. She announces that Fieldston’s does discriminate against black people. Once, she was accused of shoplifting by the manager. Melody thinks they shouldn’t spend their money in a store that treats them like that. Melody’s father nods his head. He suggests they protest by boycotting Fieldston’s. Mrs. Harris isn’t sure. But Daddy explains that if they picket in front of the store and hand out leaflets, the store will have to pay attention, especially when they start losing money.

Melody’s friends stare at her as she reenters the kitchen. Diane Harris asks if Melody thinks people really will boycott Fieldston’s. Melody makes a decision. She’s going to make a picket sign and carry it in the boycott. Maybe a boycott will make Fieldston’s change, which would be better for everybody. Melody reminds Diane that if their parents don’t get treated fairly, then they won’t either. Kids need to stand up and march for equal rights, too.

Diane nods. Maybe all the kids should all march.