Talk:Segregation laws

Bus seating

"This suit was brought soon after the City of Birmingham repealed the provisions of its code that had long required separate seating on City buses of Negro and white patrons. On the day the old ordinances were repealed a new one, No. 1487-F, was enacted by the City Commission. It provided as follows: "Section 1. That carriers of passengers for hire operating in the City of Birmingham are authorized to formulate and promulgate such rules and regulations for the seating of passengers on public conveyances in their charge as are reasonably necessary to assure the speedy, orderly, convenient, safe and peaceful handling of passengers. "Section 2. A willful refusal to obey a reasonable request of an operator or driver of such a public conveyance in relation to the seating of passengers thereon shall constitute a breach of the peace." At approximately the same time as the enactment of this ordinance the Bus Company put new buses into service. Instead of having movable "color boards," separating the white and Negro portions of the bus, the Company painted signs at the front and rear of each bus: "White Passengers Seat From Front, Colored Passengers from Rear." - Boman v. Birmingham Transit Co., 1960 --Dystopos 22:31, 17 November 2009 (PST)