I believe the answer is unfair ruling. Sorry if I am wrong.
The correct answer to this open question is the following.
Unfortunately, you did not include the excerpt or the account, so we do not what it says. However, trying to help you we can comment on the following based on our knowledge about the topic.
During the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, things got ugly. It was a major risk for African Americans to join the protests. Indeed it was expected that black people would join the protests, but nobody really expected white people to join the protests.
Well, one did, and not only protested but also helped the cause. Her name was Sarah Herbert. She lived in Montgomery and decided to drive her car to transport black people. So she treated African Americans fairly in a time when injustice, inequity, and racial segregation were the name of the game for blacks.
The Montgomery Boycott started in December 1955 and ended in December 1956. The protest started after black woman Rosa Parks was arrested for denying her seat to a white person when riding the bus.
I'm not sure if you made a typo or not but in the current context I can only see negligible being relevant.
