"All the boycotts and sit-ins and marches in themselves did not cure the illness of discrimination. It was the court decisions that did it."
— Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., one of the Browder v. Gayle judges.
Pivotal Lawsuit: Browder v. Gayle
Martin Luther King announces the Supreme Court victory. Source Democracy Now.
- February 1, 1956 - Attorney Fred Gray attacked segregation by filing Browder v. Gayle.
- Colvin gave amazing testimony.
- June 13, 1956 - The court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.
- Case appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- November 13, 1956 - Supreme Court upheld ruling.
- The victory was a major turning point of the Civil Rights Movement.
The Four Browder v. Gayle Plaintiffs
(Note: one plaintiff dropped out because of intimidation.)
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From Colvin's testimony as she was cross examined by Montgomery City attorney Walter Knabe:
"Knabe: You have changed, that is, you and the other Negroes have changed your ideas since December 5, have you not?
Colvin: No, sir. We haven't changed our ideas. It has been in me ever since I was born.
Knabe: But the group stopped riding the buses for certain named things. That is correct, isnt' it?
Colvin: For what?
Knabe: For certain things that the Reverend King said were the things you objected to?
Colvin: No, sir. It was in the beginning when they arrested me, when they (the African American community of Montgomery) seen how dirty they treated the Negro girls here, that they had begun to feel like that all the time, though some of us just didn't have the guts to stand up.
Knabe: Did you have a leader when you started this bus boycott?
Colvin: Did we have a leader? Our leaders is just we ourself."
"Knabe: You have changed, that is, you and the other Negroes have changed your ideas since December 5, have you not?
Colvin: No, sir. We haven't changed our ideas. It has been in me ever since I was born.
Knabe: But the group stopped riding the buses for certain named things. That is correct, isnt' it?
Colvin: For what?
Knabe: For certain things that the Reverend King said were the things you objected to?
Colvin: No, sir. It was in the beginning when they arrested me, when they (the African American community of Montgomery) seen how dirty they treated the Negro girls here, that they had begun to feel like that all the time, though some of us just didn't have the guts to stand up.
Knabe: Did you have a leader when you started this bus boycott?
Colvin: Did we have a leader? Our leaders is just we ourself."
Fred Gray talks about how Browder v. Gayle was a turning point and how it contributed to the development of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Audio by Cormac McCrimmon.
Click to see Montgomery Advertiser article about the Supreme Court ruling: | |
File Size: | 54 kb |
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Fred Gray's Browder v. Gaye Complaint. All rights reserved the Rosa Parks Library and Museum. (Click to enlarge)
Georgette Norman discusses why Colvin is so important. Video by Cormac McCrimmon.
"Browder versus Gayle changed relationships of blacks and whites in America and the world. Yet few people know about the case and even fewer know about the plaintiffs."
- Filmmaker and journalist William Dickerson.
Colvin talks about the importance of the plaintiffs.
Fred Gray discusses why Rosa Parks wasn't a part of the Browder v. Gayle lawsuit.