206 Notes to Pages 72–74 exploitation of racial tensions promised to counter Birmingham’s exploita- tion of class tensions and thus to capture support in the eastern wards” where many working-class whites were moving in (335–36). Parks, an ally of Bir- mingham, defeated the incumbent Cleere, while Gayle returned as mayor. Thornton adds: “The lesson of Parks’s victory appeared to be that, given the new social realities produced by the city’s rapid postwar growth, an East Montgomerian would always defeat a South Montgomerian when the issues remained class oriented. The lesson of Sellers’s victory appeared to be that a vigorous exploitation of racial antipathies could give a South Montgomerian at least a fighting chance of defeating an East Montgomerian. Gayle was, of course, a South Montgomerian. But Gayle’s dilemma was much more com- plicated than this analysis would imply. First, he was unlikely to abandon a set of beliefs that he had held sincerely for many decades merely because political strategy seemed to dictate this course. Second, developments within the busi- ness community rendered it less than certain that a sound strategy actually dictated this course” (337–38). 38. West, interview by Lee; Virginia Durr to Jessica Mitford, March 1955, in Sullivan, ed., Freedom Writer, 84–85. See also Rosa Parks, minutes, Mont- gomery branch executive committee meeting, March 22, 1955, Montgom- ery NAACP Papers (NN-Sc). 39. Virginia Durr to Jessica Mitford, March 1955, April 8, 1955, May 5, 1955, and May 6, 1955, in Sullivan, ed., Freedom Writer, 84–87. At an NAACP meeting in July, the attorney Fred Gray indicated he “paid 47.50 for the Claudette Colvin case transcript. Since the violation of the segrega- tion of transportation law charge was dismissed against her, the NAACP has no case but to have her exonerated of the assault and battery charge.” Noting Colvin was on probation and a ward of the state, Gray informed the executive committee that he had filed a motion for a new trial, hoping she would be exonerated due to false arrest. The branch agreed to appeal the Colvin case on these grounds (Rosa Parks, minutes, Montgomery branch executive committee meeting, July 13, 1955, Montgomery NAACP Papers [NN-Sc]). 40. Abernathy, “The Natural History of a Social Movement,” in Garrow, ed., The Walking City, 109–10. 41. King Jr., “Other Mountains,” May 15, 1955, in Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., 6: 214. See also Trenholm to King, May 2, 1955, ibid., 2: 556–57. 42. Rosa Parks, minutes, mass meeting at First CME Church, June 19, 1955, Montgomery NAACP Papers (NN-Sc); King, “The Peril of Superficial Optimism in the Area of Race Relations,” June 19, 1955, in Papers of Mar-