PB incident a prelude to stand by Rosa Parks
In 1944, an incident on a Missouri Pacific bus in Pine Bluff would preview the actions of Rosa Parks that served as a catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Civil Rights Movement, and the creation of Rosa Parks Day to honor her contribution.
Before Parks’ act of nonviolent civil disobedience, there were numerous instances of Black passengers doing the same, including here in Pine Bluff. In 1944, an African American war veteran refused to go to the back of a coach bus at the former Missouri Pacific Greyhound Bus Station.
As a Missouri Pacific bus was preparing to go to Little Rock, a soldier with a disability who took a seat near the front was asked to move to the back of the bus when another white passenger came on board. The soldier did not respond to the request, so a white passenger hurled a racial slur and punched him.
Several Black passengers came to his defense, resulting in a confrontation on the bus. Like many similar instances across the U.S., this was a preview of the conflicts that would be repeated in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ’60s.
On Dec. 1, 1955, then 42-yearold Parks took the municipal bus after a hard day’s work at the Montgomery Fair department store in Montgomery, Ala. During that time, Jim Crow segregation was in full effect, as the front of the bus was reserved for white passengers while Black passengers were relegated to the back of the bus. Bus drivers also had the authority to ask a Black passenger to give up their seat for a white passenger.
During the route, a white man had no seat because all of the seats in the designated “white” section were taken.
Consequently, the driver told the four Black passengers in the front row of the “colored” section to stand. The three other Black passengers obeyed the driver’s command, but Rosa Parks did not. Eventually, two police officers approached the stopped bus and arrested Parks. Her arrest sparked a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system and led to the Supreme Court’s decision to ban segregation on public transportation in 1956.
Rosa Parks Day was created to honor Parks and her contribution to the American Civil Rights Movement. Today, Rosa Parks Day is celebrated twice a year in six U.S. states on Feb. 4, Rosa Parks’ birthday, or Dec. 1, the day of her arrest.
In Michigan, it was first observed on Feb. 9, 1998, the first Monday after Parks’ birthday. On Feb. 4, 2000, the California State Legislature followed suit, enacting and celebrating their own Rosa Parks Day. In 2006, Joyce Beatty helped get Rosa Parks Day passed in Ohio.
In 2014, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber made Rosa Parks Day official in their states, celebrating the holiday for the first time. In 2018, the Council of the City of New York established Feb. 4 as Rosa Parks Day. In 2021, the Texas Legislature recognized Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day.
This article is from ExplorePineBluff.com, a program of the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission. Sources: video. wixstatic.com —Missouri/Pacific Bus Station Incident; www.wikipedia.org — Rosa Parks Day; www.history.com - Rosa Parks; www.timeanddate.com — Rosa Parks Day; www.enjoyorangecounty.com — Rosa Parks Day; Video shows deep Pine Bluff connection to civil rights drive | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (nwaonline.com); Image Credit: National Archives. Ninfa O. Barnard wrote this article for ExplorePineBluff.com.