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Civil Disobedience: Rosa Parks

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Peaceful resistance or civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with a law. Doing so however, can positively impact society as a whole. Rosa Parks is one of the many that have played a major role in civil disobedience. On December 1, 1955 Parks was arrested and fined for refusing to give her seat to a white man and to sit in the back of a public bus. Rosa Parks lived in Montgomery,Alabama where Jim Crow laws existed. These laws were created in southern states to hinder the rights in which African Americans were entitled to. Parks’s refusal to comply with the discriminatory law sparked a major response within the nation.
To begin with, Rosa Park’s action prompted the Montgomery Bus Boycott.This boycott began four days post Park’s arrest. The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) elected pastor Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the boycott. 75% of the …show more content…

On June, 1956, a Montgomery federal court ruled that laws segregating passengers based on racial status would fall under the violation of the 14th Amendment. Integration in Montgomery, though long overdue, was finally achieved on December 21, 1956 when the Montgomery Federal court appealed to the Supreme Court which favored the Federal court’s decision. Civil disobedience can bring change to unfair circumstances. One simple action sparked a small group to take their own initiative. This grew into a massive boycott which disrupted the financial status of Montgomery. Since over 50% of the passengers of the bus system participated in the boycott, Montgomery was drained due to loss of income from the bus system. This gave the movement recognition. The recognition of this movement was noticed on a nationwide level. This prompted a resolution. Civil disobedience doesn’t have to be classified as disruptive. Rosa Parks acted with dignity and fought against segregation. Her movement brought legal correction of a discriminatory

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