On July 16, 1944, when the white couple stood angrily over her on the bus, Irene Morgan Kirkaldy ignored them. Despite all of the days she’d patiently bowed down to segregation, this day was going to be different.
She’d just left her mother’s home, seeking comfort after a miscarriage – and had completely run out of patience. But her bad day had just gotten worse.
Because she refused to give up her seat, the infuriated bus driver drove to the sheriff’s station. The first sheriff yelled at Kirkaldy, brandishing a warrant for her arrest.
She tore it up, threw it out the window, then kicked him in the groin! She then fought a second sheriff, until he dragged her off the bus! But that wasn’t the end of it.
She was charged with violating Virginia’s Jim Crow transit law, but her seat on the Greyhound interstate bus was federal jurisdiction – she didn’t violate anything! The best part?
In 1946, The Supreme Court ruled that the Virginia law was unconstitutional! Morgan won by using their own system against them! Her victory became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.
Like Morgan Kirkaldy, sometimes we have to stand our ground and demand justice against white supremacist laws. And sometimes we can win!