On a crowded part of the Brooklyn Bridge, a wife and husband with their two children in tow, were heard singing, “We Shall Overcome,” as they marched with signs urging the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to make further concessions at the negotiating table.

In Harlem, a group of activists stood at one of the 125th Street subway stop to show solidarity with the striking workers who shut down the country’s busiest transportation system in the wee hours of the morning, forcing millions to find alternative ways to get to and from work, school, and the city’s busy shopping districts.

“We can’t blame the workers,” a Brooklyn resident who walked his wife to her job in Lower Manhattan before hailing a cab to his office in Midtown, Ronald Johnson, said. “This is a civil rights issue. We must protect the interests of the workers.”

As I watched the television footage yesterday of thousands of shoes pounding the pavement, I couldn’t help but be transported back five decades ago to another time and another place.

It was 1955 when thousands of angry Montgomery, Ala., residents crippled the transportation system there by protesting the laws that had forced African Americans to move to the back of the bus. These riders were being disrespected and devalued and ultimately demanded change from the bus system.

In this country, the fight for worker’s rights has historically been tied to civil rights. That is no less true in this current battle, where a majority of the MTA workers are people of color. They are right in their demand for pay increases, particularly at a time when the MTA has boasted of a $1 billion surplus.

In thinking about the current strike, it’s hard to ignore the obvious role that race plays in the concessions that the MTA seems unwilling to make. Factor in personnel cutbacks and sub-par facilities at subway stations located in minority neighborhoods, and it becomes evident that the time was ripe for a strike.

Even if we forget about salary increases and the retirement age of MTA workers for just a second, the Transport Workers Union and the MTA was still deadlocked until early yesterday morning over a no-brainer issue. The union wanted Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday recognized as a paid holiday, in much the same way that it is acknowledged all across America. The MTA had refused but later conceded.

“This is a fight over dignity and respect on the job, a concept that is very alien to the MTA,” the president of the Transport Workers Union, Roger Toussaint, said. “Transit workers are tired of being underappreciated and disrespected.”

Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki continue to charge that the workers are breaking the law by staging a strike. These workers are not criminals. They are hard-working Americans who deserve decent pay, affordable health care and benefits, and safe working conditions.

Social movements have historically been born out of a desire for change.

Last week, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was in town to rally on behalf of the workers. He called on MTA authorities to negotiate in good faith. He told the workers that they ultimately had the power and reminded the crowd that King’s last major campaign was organizing sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn.

“When you stop rolling, New York walks,” Rev. Jackson said. “Thus, you have the power.”

Now that New Yorkers have started walking, the MTA, Mr. Pataki, and Mr. Bloomberg will face a backlash from straphangers if this strike continues in the upcoming days. Someone ought to tell these folks that they need to settle this thing right away.

“To our riders, we ask for your understanding forbearance,” Mr. Toussaint said. “We stood with you to keep token booths open, to keep conductors on the train, and oppose fare hikes. We now ask that you stand with us. We did not want a strike. Evidently the MTA, governor and the mayor did.

“We call on all good will from New Yorkers, the labor community, and all working people to recognize that our fight is their fight, and to rally in our support with solidarity activities and events. And to show the MTA that the TWU does not stand alone,” Mr. Toussaint added.