Most of us probably have some degree of familiarity with the story of the Montgomery bus boycott. Rosa Parks, a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama was ordered to surrender the seat she had paid for on the bus for another passenger. Legally, she was required to comply, but she refused. Parks was arrested and booked on the charge of disturbing the peace.
For the Black community in Montgomery, this became the proverbial straw which broke the camel's back. Black Americans in Montgomery - and in many other places all over America - were denied basic rights which were supposed to be afforded all citizens. Among others: the right to vote, the right to eat at a public lunch counter, the right to enter spaces or use water fountains marked ‘whites only,’ the right to an equal education for their children, the right to be considered for employment on their merits and abilities, the right to expect justice in the face of lynchings, and the right to use a seat which they paid for on the bus.
Ms. Parks has said that one of the reasons she would not stand up was because she could not get the face of Emmitt Till out of her heard. Till, a 14 year old boy visiting Mississippi from Chicago, was murdered just months before Ms. Parks refusal. Till was beaten, shot and dumped in a river on the accusation that he whistled at a white woman in a store. She later privately said this never actually happened.
When Till’s body had been retrieved, it was horribly disfigured. Till’s mother, Mamie, with the help of a wealthy Black America, invited journalists and photographers to document what had been done to her son and his funeral. In fact, Mamie chose an open casket funeral so that the nation would have to see what had been done to her son. You can see Till’s body here (warning: disturbing image.)
The murderers of this young man were set free after a trial, despite plenty of evidence. After their acquittal, they spoke openly of the murder.
Four days before her refusal to surrender her seat, Ms. Parks attended a meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where Dr. King was pastor, and heard about the case of Till.
After her arrest, leaders - particularly faith leaders - in Montgomery called for the black community to boycott the busses. Dr. King hoped they could get 60% support for the boycott. On the first day, they saw 99% support. Excited, the leaders assembled, and appointed a 25 year old Martin Luther King Jr. as the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association.
In the first mass meeting, Dr. King exhorted all who attended that in seeking to be treated with equal worth and value to white Americans:
“If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer that never came down to earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie. Love has no meaning. And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Dr. King and others felt confident that the boycott would not take long to accomplish its goal, as the bus company could not afford to operate without the income of Montgomery’s black residents. The reality proved very different. The civic leaders in Montgomery tried to bully black residents into submission. When black taxi drivers lowered their rates to match bus rates, this was prohibited. When car pools where organized they were also restricted. Yet the black residents attended weekly mass meetings at churches to sing together and hear sermons. For over one year - through summer and winter, the black residents walked miles to and from work.
Dr. King frequently references Mother Pollard, a 72 year old woman who was offered a ride during the boycott. But she refused. “My feets is tired, but my soul is rested,” she replied.
After 381 days, the US Supreme Court finally provided a ruling supporting the position that segregation on public transportation was, in fact, illegal. The signs on the bus segregating black citizens and stipulating that they must surrender their seat if ordered were removed.
Without a single bullet or bomb, the black community in Montgomery had struck a blow against the forces of oppression. By walking miles upon miles in all weather, they had emulated Jesus, who battled great injustice with great sacrifice.
Rather than trying to make their oppressors suffer in equal measure — rather than returning hate for hate and pain for pain — the black community trusted that if they undertook a God honoring approach, God would set the wrongs to right.
This was indeed the crucible for King to prove and fully commit to a non-violent course of action. At the onset of the boycott, King’s house received numerous threats over the phone. One night, a few months into the boycott, King recollects that a phone call came in just as he was falling asleep. It was yet another call filled with hateful words and threats of violence. King wasn’t able to drift back to sleep at this particular call so he want to his kitchen to make some coffee. In that kitchen, King prayed and told God he had gone as far as he could go. King shares that he felt God impress upon him these words: “Stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever.”
From that moment forward, King said his fears faded and his uncertainty was gone. Three nights later, his house was bombed while his wife and child were inside. King said when he heard the news, he was strangely calm. Because he knew God was with him, he was no longer controlled emotionally by the terrorism directed at him.
Despite this personal, violent attack, King admonished the black community to remember their purpose: “We are out to defeat injustice and not white persons who may be unjust.” The boycott was never an attack on other people, but against the forces of evil which was working through other people. In the face of violent oppression continued to point his followers to love: “The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him.”
The black community of Montgomery proved that a non-violent approach to fighting injustice in America could succeed. King would take notice and it would propel his efforts over the remainder of his time as the primary leader of the civil rights movement.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a famous 20th century German theologian who would eventually be killed in a Nazi concentration camp, said he did not fully understand the Gospel until he saw it in the context of oppression — in his case, Harlem New York.
As a white male, I never have to wonder if my gender or culture has cost me opportunities; jobs, education, or otherwise. But it is important that I see the power of the Gospel to uplift those who are oppressed. Those who trust God to deliver them from the hands of oppression.
The injustices I face are minuscule to what the black residents of Montgomery had to deal with. If they were able to respond with humble, non-violent strength, then how much more should I be able to do the same in my life? The Holy Spirit gave them strength to face political attack, civic humiliation and physical exhaustion over a long period of time. How much more should I be able to respond with grace and patience when I’m cut off on the highway?
These men and women are my brothers and sisters in Christ. It is my joy and pleasure to celebrate them in the month of February, and to accept their witness that I may learn from how they embodied the teachings of Jesus.
I doubt any of them had any idea what their actions would lead to — a movement which would change our nation and the world.