In March, 1953 African American leaders had the Baton Rouge City Council pass Ordinance 222, which allowed African Americans to sit at front of the bus depending if they got there first, still leaving the first row of seats open for white passengers. However, due to objection from the bus drivers, it was ruled illegal because it clashed with Louisiana's segregation laws. To oppose this the ruling, members of the African-American community started to organize a bus boycott. During the boycott, meetings were held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church , which was the leader of the boycott's parish. A free car lift was made to transport people who needed to go to work. The moment worked hard to break any rules, for example, they did not allow any of the car lift to charge for their services, because if they did they would have been illegally taxiing without a license. To finish the boycott the Baton Rouge City Council agreed to make a comprise, if the African-Americans agreed to leave the first two rows of seat open for white riders and fill the bus from the rear to the front they could sit in the front of the bus.
I believe the African-American community should not have agreed to these terms, because they cause enough economic damage to the bus companies, already they could have pushed until they could have sat anywhere they wish on the bus. If the African-American community did so, the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott would have been far more famous than it is now.
This is a summary of this website: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/african_american_history/44770/2
I believe the African-American community should not have agreed to these terms, because they cause enough economic damage to the bus companies, already they could have pushed until they could have sat anywhere they wish on the bus. If the African-American community did so, the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott would have been far more famous than it is now.
This is a summary of this website: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/african_american_history/44770/2
