The Root Causes Of The Civil Rights Movement

Jo Ann Gibson Robinson entered an almost empty bus on a “Saturday morning before Christmas in December 1949” (15), before entering she had no idea what was about to occur on that day. She proceeded to pay and take a seat in the fifth row from the front. While “envisioning…the wonderful week’s vacation…with family and friends in Ohio” (15) she did not realize the bus driver stopped the bus to tell her to get up from where she was sitting. The bus driver stood over Mrs. Robinson and yelled at her while telling her to “get up from there!” (16). She left the bus teary eyed, fearful, and humiliated. Mrs. Robinson was one of the many African Americans who endured racial segregation and she wanted to do something about it. Requiring black passengers to pay fares in the front of the bus and then entered through the rear (31), reserving the front 10 double seats for whites (31) and addressing black patrons with obscene language (31), were some of the root causes of the Civil Rights Movement.
As soon as this incident occurred The Women’s Political Council took action and according the American journey they “initiated a mass boycott of the privately owned bus company” (864). Mrs. Robinson and two of her students created a notice that informed every African American in Montgomery about the boycott. The morning of Rosa Parks’ trial on December 5th 1955 was the day the one day bus boycott started and it was a complete success. After individuals stopped riding the buses, it got the attention of many reporters and news journalists and they claimed that “there was a discipline among Negroes which whites were not aware of” (62). This particular day led to months of hard work to come for Jo Ann Gibson