Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Pioneer in America's Bus Segregation Fight

1. CLAUDETTE COLVIN

2. WORDS WE WILL LEARN TODAY… Constitutional rights – a constitutional right is a set of rules that guides how a country, state, or other political organization works. Discrimination - unfair treatment of one particular person or group of people. Usually the different treatment is because of the person’s gender,religion, nationality, ethnicity (culture), race, or other personal traits. Segregation - the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment.

3. WHY DO WE HAVE BLACK HISTORY MONTH? Why do you think we have Black History month? Black people have not always been treated equally simply because of the colour of their skin. Do you know of any examples or stories of when black people have been treated unfairly in the past? One example is that in America, black and white people had to sit in different seats on a bus or public places like the cinema.

4. WHO IS CLAUDETTE COLVIN? Claudette Colvin was an African American civil rights activist. She pioneered the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. Before the Rosa Parks incident took place, Claudette Colvin was arrested for challenging the bus segregation system. Discuss what the underlined words might mean…

5. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION • Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama. • Her biological parents are C.P. Austin and Mary Jane Gadson. • She was adopted by Q.P. Colvin and Mary Ann Colvin. • She was raised in a poor black neighborhood. • She attended the Booker T. Washington High School, a racially segregated school in Montgomery. • She was a diligent student in school who earned straight A’s. • She was also a member of the Youth Council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

6. BUS SEGREGATION INCIDENT • She took the bus to school everyday even though the seating segregation discriminated against African Americans. • White people could sit where they liked and black people sitting nearby must give up their seats to the white passengers. • When Claudette was 15 years old, she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger in a racially segregated bus in Alabama. • She stood her ground because, according to her, it was her constitutional right since she paid the fare.

7. ARREST AND TRIAL • Colvin was tried in juvenile court with charges of violating the segregation laws, disturbing the peace, and assault. • Annie Larkins Price, a witness who was in the bus with Colvin, testified that there was no assault. • The court ruled against her case and she was put on probation. • Her minister bailed her out of jail. • Nine months after the incident, a similar event happened to Rosa Parks and she also got arrested for it.

8. CASE TO END BUS SEGREGATION • The case was organized by attorney Fred Gray, the same lawyer who represented Colvin in her case. • On June 5, 1956, the federal court in Montgomery ruled that the segregational system was against the law which stated that all citizens should receive equal rights under state and federal laws. • Despite appeals from state and local officials, the Supreme Court stood by the ruling and ordered an end to bus segregation for good in the state of Alabama. • Following this ruling, all buses in Montgomery were integrated beginning December 21, 1956.

9. ACTIVITY Use the information from the PowerPoint and write in each section. The 3 sections are: • Key information (small box) • Bus segregation incident • Court case and effect she has had