Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

“Riding the bus was like having a sore tooth that never quit aching.”

Phillip Hoose uses this simile to highlight the unique status of bus rides in the world of Jim Crow laws. While many laws were quietly accepted (or were able to be avoided altogether in rural settings), the city bus rules were a constant reminder of white people’s superior social status.

“The biggest mystery of all was how the white man came to dominate us.”

As a child, Claudette wanted to learn everything about the world. Even then, she found that racism was one of the few things without a clear, understandable explanation. Everyday interactions and her knowledge of the Bible did little to explain why Black people were treated as inferior.

“How could anyone serve God on a Sunday in less than an hour?”

This quote marks one of the first major differences that Claudette notices between white and Black people. One Sunday, as her family prepares to attend church all day, she spots a white neighbor leaving church after 45 minutes. Many of her initial observations, before she moves to Montgomery, are similarly astute yet innocent.

“There were so many places you couldn’t go and so many things you couldn’t do if you were Black.”

After moving to Montgomery, racism begins to dominate Claudette’s life more than it had in Pine Level. Aspects of society are barred from Black people, and in settings where both Black and white people are allowed, police are constantly watching for any sign of disobedience from Black people.

“For some reason we seemed to hate ourselves.”

Claudette does not understand why the social dynamics of her all-Black high school are so defined by white beauty standards. As she begins her freshman year, she starts to understand how racism can be internalized and affect the Black community from within.

“How could adults complain at home about the insulting way they were treated at work and then put on a happy face for their white employers?”

In addition to resenting her peers for their adherence to white rules, Claudette cannot fathom why Black adults don’t stand up to their oppressors. These observations contribute to her realization that she has to do something, as no one else appears willing or able to.

“I was going to be like Harriet Tubman and go North to liberate my people.”

Claudette admires Harriet Tubman, one of the few fellow Black women she learns about in her history classes. When she decides she wants to become a lawyer, which will require moving North to obtain her degree as law school is not available to Black Southerners, she hopes to follow in the footsteps of the famous underground railroad organizer.

“When my moment came, I was ready.”

Claudette maintains that her choice to remain seated on a bus was not planned. After years of anger, oppression, and learning about civil rights, she was ready for action whenever she had the chance, and found herself unable to bow to white demands anymore.

“Rebellion was on my mind that day.”

Just before her fateful bus ride, Claudette had attended an in-depth class about segregation in Montgomery. She was also still reeling from Jeremiah’s failed appeal for his sexual assault case. Although she did not realize her moment to take a stand would happen so soon, she was primed to do so.

“It was the worst sound I ever heard. It sounded final. It said I was trapped.”

Locked in an adult jail cell, Claudette is not even allowed to contact her family. After the rush of rebellion that came with her arrest, she begins to wonder if she made a foolish choice and would become yet another Black person locked away with no means of escape.

“Robinson’s diplomatic letter contained one fragment of steel.”

Months before Claudette was arrested, local activist Jo Ann Robinson wrote to the city and threatened a bus boycott. This quote reveals that both activists and the city knew that a boycott would devastate the bus system, and also shows how the boycotts were in the works long before they happened.

“Just before lunchtime, Judge Hill delivered his blunt ruling: guilty of all charges.”

Claudette was made a criminal in a single moment, based on false testimony from police and white witnesses. Despite being in the right, and having her own witnesses who told a consistent story of police violence, Claudette had little chance of a fair trial as a Black person in Alabama.

“Was she too young? Could a rebellious teen be controlled? Who was this girl anyway?”

As soon as Claudette was arrested, people began to inquire about her background. Since she was not from an elite family and was only 15, she became a controversial figure almost as soon as she was well-known. This ultimately led to her being ignored by most civil rights leaders. 

“Why am I wasting my time and two good dollars straightening my hair so I can look more white?”

Already infamous from her arrest, Claudette makes another spontaneous choice to put her hair in braids. Both in Claudette’s high school and larger society, Black people’s hair is politicized (with their natural hair being seen as unruly). This marks her full commitment to refusing to bend to white rules anymore.

“I might have had more fun if the meetings had been in my neighborhood.”

The summer after her arrest, Claudette begins to fully realize the difference between her, a girl from King Hill, and the young people from professional Black families. She has a hard time connecting to the other teens at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) youth meetings.

“On December 2, 1955, tens of thousands of Black Montgomery residents studied an unsigned leaflet bearing a brief typewritten message.”

As soon as Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, the bus boycott organizers sprang into action. By the next day, nearly the whole Black population of Montgomery knew to not ride the bus the following Monday.

“I wanted to tell, to explain what had happened to me so that people would understand, but I gave in and kept quiet.”

This quote refers to Claudette’s pregnancy. She believes that she would be understood if people knew the father of her baby was an adult (who clearly took advantage of her), but she keeps her promise to her parents and never reveals the truth, despite the great harm it brings to her reputation.

“Determined to apply economic pressure peacefully, Black protesters let the nearly empty buses rumple on by like green ghosts, ignoring the doors that snapped open invitingly at the corners, and devised their own transportation system.”

To support the carefully executed boycott, Black organizers designed a carpool system that allowed anyone who could not walk to get to their destination. The boycott was originally planned for a day, but the carpool system helped it go on for over a year.

“While everyone longed and prayed for success, many held private doubts—it was hard to imagine that whites would ever give up control.”

Well into the bus boycott, many people began to lose hope and return to feeling that there was nothing they could do to enact change. They believed that segregation was too ingrained in society, and white people still held all the power. Despite this, they continued to boycott, praying that they were wrong.

“In my imagination that courtroom seemed like the Colosseum, and it felt like I had one last speech. I was going to make the most of it.”

Reflecting her knowledge of the Bible, Claudette imagines herself in Rome, about to be thrown to the lions, as she puts her baby to sleep the night before the trial. She is scared but confident, knowing it might be her last chance to make an impact.

“City leaders convinced themselves that Blacks really wanted to ride the buses but King’s silver tongue had seduced them into rebellion.”

This idea formed the basis of the city’s defense in the Browder v. Gayle trial. Since segregation laws were only state laws, they had to convince the federal judges that all citizens of Alabama were actually content with bus segregation.

“The crowd of dark-skinned figures in neatly pressed suits and church dresses had set off for the block-long federal courthouse just after dawn because Browder v. Gayle offered hope.”

After months of boycotting, there seemed to be no movement in the fight for bus desegregation. The trial was the one pillar of hope for many people, who walked en masse to the courthouse to show their support for the Black lawyers and witnesses.

“I heard about the court decision on the news. Nobody called to tell me.”

After Browder v. Gayle, Claudette is fully cast aside by Black activist leadership. Not only is she not invited to take part in civil rights action, but she has even lost contact with some leaders on a personal level.