Tripping the Iron Feet of Oppression: The Montgomery Bus Boycott as the Starting Point of the Civil Rights Movement

Authors

Val J. Heyer, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Civil Rights Movement, Montgomery Bus Boycott, segregation

Abstract

Many historians hold that the landmark Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision was. the starting point of the modem Civil Rights movement, because it showed that blacks could legally protest segregation and win. However, as Edgar French stated, "history refutes any claim that this date marked the beginning of their struggle." Today, disproportionate emphasis on Brown is displayed in history textbooks. Historians Paul Escott and David Goldfield wrote that the Civil Rights movement was a "religious crusade" and that Martin Luther King,Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) were the epitomes of this crusade. They did not mention the events in Montgomery, although Dr. King and the SCLC were direct products of the boycott

Recommended Citation

Heyer, Val J. (1994) "Tripping the Iron Feet of Oppression: The Montgomery Bus Boycott as the Starting Point of the Civil Rights Movement," The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing: Vol. 23: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thetean/vol23/iss1/3