Black citizens organized during the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s to 1960s to dismantle segregation and other discriminatory laws. Learn about Mr. William R. “Seabron” Saxon who refused to give up his seat on a bus from Atlanta to his home in Asheville, four years before Rosa Parks did the same during the Montgomery bus boycott.
Asheville High School [8]
The U.S. Supreme Court Decision Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 provided legal justification for segregation in public facilities including theaters, schools, trains, and buses. Black citizens organized during the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s to 1960s to dismantle segregation and other discriminatory laws.
In 1951, 75-year-old William R.“Seabron” Saxon refused to give up his seat on a bus from Atlanta to his home in Asheville. After threats from police, Mr. Saxon relented but later filed a lawsuit seeking $15,000 in damages from Smoky Mountain Stages, Inc. The Asheville Citizen reported that the judge’s jury instructions bypassed consideration of discrimination and unequal treatment, and the judge sided with the bus company.
The judgment against Mr. Saxon delayed but did not prevent him and millions of other Black Americans from securing equal rights. Congress adopted The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin when it comes to employment, access to public places, and voting.
