Mother Of Civil Rights: Rosa Parks

However, on this day, Parks had had enough; she said “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in” (Foner and Garraty). She sat in the middle-section of the 1948 General Motors bus. A White man got on, and every Black man, woman and child in that section got up to make way, everyone except for Parks. The bus driver, J.F. Blake, asked her to stand up. She said no. He put the bus in park, telling her: "Well, I'm going to have you arrested." Parks responded: "You may do that." Parks knew the routine. The bus driver got off the bus, and came back a few minutes later with two police officers. Parks had been arrested for violating a bus-related segregation law a time before with the same bus driver in 1943 (Scholars). She was taken to line police station. She was finger-printed and she posed for a mug shot that

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, one of the leaders of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] refused to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, despite being reprimanded by the driver (Schulke 166). Montgomery, Alabama was known for its terrible treatment of blacks. The buses in particular had been a source of tension between the city and black citizens for many years (Schulke, 167). As a result of refusing to give up her seat, Rosa Parks was arrested. Rosa Parks' popularity among the black community, proved to be the spark that ignited the non-violent Civil Rights Movement (Norrell 2).

On Thursday evening December 1, 1955, Rosa boards a Montgomery City Bus to go home after a long day working as a seamstress. She walks back to the section for blacks, and takes a seat. The law stated that they could sit there if no White people were standing. Rosa parks never liked segregation rules and has been fighting against them for more than ten years in the NAACP, but until then had never broke any of the unjust rules. As the bus stops at more places, more white people enter the bus, all the seats in the “White Only” section was filled and the bus driver orders Rosa’s row to move to the back of the bus, they all moved, accept Rosa. She was arrested and fined for violating a city regulation. This act of defiance began a movement that ended legal Segregation in America, and made her an inspiration to freedom devoted people everywhere.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to a white person. Rosa Parks is quoted as saying, "I thought about Emmett Till, and I could not go back. My legs and feet were not hurting, that is a stereotype. I paid the same fare as others, and I felt violated." Her act of civil disobedience led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the emergence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a powerful leader in the fight for civil rights, all powerful symbols of the civil rights movement. (Crowe, n.d.)

Rosa Parks' refusal to relinquish her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus was a slap in the face to hard line Jim Crow Southerners who thought that blacks are inferior to whites; it also happened to be illegal, and Parks was swiftly and promptly arrested for breaking a Jim Crow law. Little did the police arresting her know that this arrest would lead to the downfall of the very law they felt they needed, and wanted, to enforce. Along with MLK's protests and marches, a Federal Court determined segregation on buses to be unconstitutional. That would not have happened had it not been for Parks' refusal to obey a law that was both ludicrous and morally wrong. Every human on this earth, regardless of skin color or ethnicity, is exactly that: human, and therefore they deserve

Rosa Parks was known for her unplanned act of defiance that lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 (Dudley 258). The attributes that she contributed to Civil Rights was her commitment to the cause, her positive attitude, and her ability to inspire others. Rosa Parks had got onto a public bus after a long day of work, and her feet were hurting, so she decided to sit in the white section. The white people complained and the bus driver told her if she did not get up, then she would be arrested. Nevertheless, with Rosa Park’s refusal to get up, it led to her arrest. Due to her commitment to the cause she stood up for racial equality, and though all of the turmoil she encountered she kept a positive attitude. Her ability to inspire others was remarkable, therefore it led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott was due to the fact that African Americans were exasperated due to the fact that they were not being treated equally. This then led to all African Americans walking to and from wherever they were

Rosa Parks is known for her pride, stubbornness, and her refusal to give up her seat to a white male. In the early 1900’s, African Americans were treated different than other races. Like trash. They had to serve the “white man” and live their lives completing actions in the Caucasians liking, and dealing with extreme racism. At the time of this incident, many African Americans were searching for the same freedom, respect, and fairness that the whites received. Rosa Parks gave many blacks the sense of pride they were looking for. On December 1st, 1955 the section of seats for the whites’ on the bus were filled. Rosa Parks sat in the row behind the white section with 3 other African American individuals. Many have the misconception that she was

Rosa Park was and African-American civil rights activist she refused to give up her bus seat for a white passenger on December 1,1995 .The bus driver noticed that the whites only section was full and more whites were coming on the bus the bus driver ordered that three other blacks in the next row to move to the back the two others moved to the back of the bus but Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus and she got arrested after this happened Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses.A Officer on the scene said they asked rosa if she was tired they said her response was “I was not tired physically… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”so this show that rosa was tired of getting

“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired,” wrote Rosa Parks on her Biography, “but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically….No, the only tired I was, was giving in,” stated in (History.com.) “Rosa Parks is a civil rights leader in the 1960’s.” (From “Rosa Parks” By Cavendish, Marshall; Academic American Encyclopedia) She was a huge key in history, forwarding the protest for the African Americans rights’.

“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in” (Parks). I was tired, tired of being oppressed, and tired of being stepped on by the law, and my fellow people. That was the only tired i felt. The Montgomery Bus protest sparked a fire that would be felt throughout the entire country, and it was the spark that ignited the fire of the civil rights movement that shook the world. The boycott was the first of it, once light was shown on the problem, she began travelling cross country spreading information about civil rights, and sparking more peaceful protest. Rosa Parks was an important figure that changed the direction of the United States of America. She was trying to get home from work that day, but she turned into an icon for the civil rights movement, and shined a light on the unfair treatment of african americans.

On December 1st, 1955, Rosa entered a bus in Montgomery Alabama, and sat down right behind the whites only section. The bus was filled and there were no seats left. The driver ordered four African Americans to clear seats including Rosa Parks. She refused and shortly after she was arrested for civil disobedience and accused of violating the Jim Crow Laws. Parks, stood up for what she believed in and in a peaceful way. She understood that it was wrong, but she did not have any fear when she committed this selfless crime. Rosa Parks refused to move as a symbol to fight for equality in the

(Sigmond) Rosa refused to give up her seat in Montgomery, Alabama on a city bus in 1955. Parks helped initiate the civil rights movement in the US. (Weeks) When Rosa was on the city bus the driver told her to get up and she didn’t, the driver told her he’d call the police so he did, she got arrest and she was proud of what she did. (Interview-Rosa)

Rosa Parks grew up in a time when African Americans were treated unfairly (Chanko 1). Everyday after work, Rosa would take the bus home. There was rules regarding to riding the bus that African Americans had to follow and whites did not(Chanko 5), and one of the rules were that the whites sat in the front and the African Americans sat in the back. Another rule of riding the bus was that African Americans could sit in the middle towards the front of the bus, but if there was a white person that needed a seat, then they would had to get up and move to the back. On December 1, 1955, Rosa got on the bus to go home and she paid before she sat down (Chanko ). She sat down, but she sat in the middle towards the front of the bus (Chanko 6). After many stops, there was a white person that needed a seat, so the bus driver told Rosa to get up and move to the back and she refused to do so. The bus driver called the police and the police had her arrested and taken to jail for not giving up her seat to a white person (Chanko 8). Rosa

One can only imagine the trials and tribulations that went on during the early 1950’s all the way up to the late 1960’s; today this time period is known throughout the nation as the time of civil rights. People can try to think back to a time when they felt deprived of what they saw as a basic right, but will never truly understand what it was like to be someone of a different race and live in America in that period. There is one person who knew this feeling all too well, among many other, her name is Rosa Parks. During the civil rights age, many people went through very similar conflicts just like Parks, these atrocious situations let to the formation and passing of many of the laws and rights that we still use and enforce

One of the Champions of the American Civil Rights Movement was Rosa Parks. A native of Tuskegee Alabama, she was said by some to be the mother of the African American Civil Rights Movement. Making a living as a seamstress, she was highly involved in the local efforts of the N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) as well as exceedingly active in her church congregation, Rosa Parks would become infamous for simply refusing to be treated differently because of the color of her skin. Aboard the Cleveland Avenue bus coming home from work on the evening of December 1st 1955, an already weary Rosa Parks was instructed by the bus driver to surrender her seat to a Caucasian man who had boarded the bus subsequent to her. When she refused to do so, the police were summoned and she consequentially was arrested. This was her first time to be under arrest, but she conducted herself in a professional and dignified manner despite the extreme injustice she was being served (Johnson 212). Jo Ann Robinson called Rasa Parks a woman of "high morals and a strong character". She was exactly what the N.A.A.C.P. needed for a plaintiff in their proposed civil suit against the bus company (Marcus 260).