Viola White (1911–1954) was an African-American woman who lived in Montgomery, Alabama[1] and is best known for her resistance to segregated bus laws. At 35 years old, in 1944, White was arrested for refusing to give up her seat.[2][3] White's arrest occurred a decade before Rosa Parks' similar act of resistance, which is credited for starting the Montgomery Bus Boycott. White worked at Maxwell Air Force Base.

Biography

Bus incident

White is best known for her 1944 act of resistance to bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. While riding the bus, White was ordered by the bus driver to give up her seat. When she refused, the driver threatened to physically remover her; however, she continued to refuse. The driver called the police. When police arrived, they removed her from the bus, beat her, and arrested her. She was found guilty and charged a $10 fine.[4] With help from civil rights leader and union organizer E.D. Nixon, White submitted several appeals to her charges in the Circuit Court several times.[5] Nixon explains, "The city of Montgomery knew they couldn't win," so they used their power to prevent the appeals from ever being placed on the court calendar.[6]

Following White's attempts to appeal her charges, local police officers retaliated.[7][8] A. A. Enger, a white police officer, kidnapped White's 16-year-old daughter, drove her to a cemetery, and sexually assaulted her. During the attack, her daughter memorized the officer's license plate so she could report Enger the next day.[2] E.D Nixon attempted several times to get a judge to sign a warrant for Enger's arrest. Once the warrant was signed, the Police Chief tipped off Enger. Enger left town escaping being detained, fired, or facing any charges.[9][10][3]

Death and afterward

White died ten years after the incident.[11] At the time of her death, White's appeal still never made it onto the court Calendar.[7] According to E.D Nixon, how White's case was handled at the state level helped activists in Montgomery form a blueprint for future segregation cases. Notably, it influenced how Rosa Parks's case was handled after she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on December 1, 1955. The organizers learned in order for any legal challenges against bus segregation to have an impact they would need to make it to the federal court. On the lessons learned from White's case, Nixon remarked:

"We paid Mrs. Parks [fine] in Court of Common Appeal. It cost us fifty-one dollars. I believe that's what it was. Now, not that Mrs. Parks didn't have a good case, but they were going to do us just like they done us in the Viola White case. They going to hold — wanted to wear us out, wear us out and never move that case up the Circuit Court, and they was all dumbfounded when they found out that we done, decided to go into federal court with two or three people who had been mistreated on the bus."[6]

Additionally, while Parks was listed as a plaintiff in the initial draft, they chose to exclude her as a plaintiff in the final draft of Browder v. Gayle, the federal case, which eventually ended bus segregation in Montgomery. From White, they learned Parks' appeals could be held in the circuit court for years, which would have forced them to either wait or risk the case being dismissed at the federal level since the issue was already being heard in lower courts.[12][10][7]

Personal life

Little biographical information exists on White. On the 1940 Census she reported she was born in Alabama in 1911 and received 0 years of education.[1]

White's spouse, whose name is unknown, died prior to 1940. White had three daughters: Dorothy Williams (born 1930), Helen Mapson (born 1932), and Addie Harris (born 1935).[1][2]

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c "Census of Population, 1940 [United States]: Public Use Microdata Sample". 1984-11-12. doi:10.3886/icpsr08236.v1. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b c Daina Ramey Berry; Kali Nicole Gross (2020). A Black women's history of the United States. Boston. ISBN 978-0-8070-3355-5. OCLC 1096284843.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ a b "Other Resistors". The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  4. ^ Hendrickson, Paul (1998-04-12). "THE LADIES BEFORE ROSA". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  5. ^ "Eyes on the Prize Interviews Collection". digital.wustl.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  6. ^ a b "Interview with E.D. Nixon". repository.wustl.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  7. ^ a b c Theoharis, Jeanne (2018). A more beautiful and terrible history : the uses and misuses of civil rights history. Boston, Massachusetts. ISBN 978-0-8070-7587-6. OCLC 1008773899.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ "Rosa Parks on Police Brutality: The Speech We Never Heard – AAIHS". 23 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  9. ^ McGuire, Danielle L. (2010). At the dark end of the street : black women, rape, and resistance- a new history of the civil rights movement from Rosa Parks to the rise of black power (1st ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26906-5. OCLC 503042152.
  10. ^ a b Theoharis, Jeanne. (2013). The rebellious life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-5047-7. OCLC 793578858.
  11. ^ Hine, Darlene Clark. (1998). A shining thread of hope : the history of Black women in America. Thompson, Kathleen. (1st ed.). New York: Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0110-X. OCLC 37606216.
  12. ^ "'I Was Not Going to Stand.' Rosa Parks Predecessors Recall Their History-Making Acts of Resistance". Time. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
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