because I feel we need an equal opportunity thread for the non-whites here to bitch about The Man getting them down, I created this thread. So have at it Jaz, JarJar, and... yeah.
" Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not—the real war will never get in the books." ~ Walt Whitman
" Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not—the real war will never get in the books." ~ Walt Whitman
" Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not—the real war will never get in the books." ~ Walt Whitman
James Fred Blake[1] (April 14, 1912 – March 21, 2002) was the bus driver whom Rosa Parks defied in 1955, prompting the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Blake served in the Army in the European theatre during World War II. He worked as a bus driver for Montgomery City Bus Lines until 1974.[2]
Blake used his discretion to set stringent rules on the bus he drove. One day in 1943, Parks boarded his bus and paid the fare. She then moved to her seat but Blake told her to follow his rules and enter the bus again from the back door. Parks exited the bus, but before she could re-board at the rear door, Blake drove off, leaving her to walk home in the rain.[3]
On December 1, 1955 they encountered each other again when Blake ordered Rosa Parks and three other African Americans to move from the middle to the back of his Cleveland Avenue bus (number 2857) in order to make room for a White American passenger. By Parks' account, Blake said, "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats." When she refused, Blake contacted the police and signed the warrant for her arrest (Chapter 6, Section II of the city code gave drivers police powers to racially assign seats[4]). This arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and led to Browder v. Gayle, the 1956 court case on the basis of which a United States District Court abolished segregation in transportation for the jurisdiction in which Montgomery, Alabama is located.
Commenting on the event afterwards, Blake stated, "I wasn't trying to do anything to that Parks woman except do my job. She was in violation of the city codes, so what was I supposed to do? That damn bus was full and she wouldn't move back. I had my orders."[5]
Blake continued working at the bus company for another 19 years. He died of a heart attack in his Montgomery home in 2002.
" Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not—the real war will never get in the books." ~ Walt Whitman
" Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not—the real war will never get in the books." ~ Walt Whitman
" Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not—the real war will never get in the books." ~ Walt Whitman
![[new thread]](/images/vb/button_newthread_off.png "Post New Thread")
![[post reply]](/images/vb/button_newreply_off.png "Post A Reply")
10-24-2009 04:49 AM
