Peaceful Resistance: Civil Disobedience In The United States

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for not standing and letting a white bus rider take her seat. She was found guilty for disorderly conduct and fined fourteen dollars. The city law stated that all African Americans were to sit in separate rows on the buses. African Americans had to sit in the back rows of the bus because the front rows of the bus were reserved of the white passengers. Rosa was tired of all the horrible treatment her and her fellow African Americans were receiving everyday of their lives.

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.

What is civil disobedience? Civil disobedience is the opposing of a law one finds unjust by refusing to follow it and accepting the consequences. So many people have performed acts of civil disobedience from Martin Luther King Jr. to everyday people. But what people did as civil disobedience a hundred years ago is completely different today. It is such an important part of a free society because it helps to define what a free society is, shows the true meaning of freedom of speech, and shows the government that citizens are not willing to follow an unjust law without violence.

On December 1, 1955 a black seamstress, after a long and exhausting day at work, got onto a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama and sat in the back where the blacks were portioned off. A few stops following, a flock of white people boarded. They seized all the remaining seats in the front, except for one white man who was forced to stand as the seats were filled up. The bus driver ordered the four black people in the rear end of the bus to give up their seats to the white man.Three of the four stood up hesitantly. Rosa Parks, the work-weary black seamstress did not. She was arrested later that evening. She was angry at the hate and disrespect towards blacks and minorities. She had enough of the way the world has treated them and she knew that

I believe that peaceful resistance to laws both positively and negatively impacts a free society. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws and government demands one considers unjust, and accepting the consequences. The first amendment prohibits Congress to enact any law that would intervene with any person's civil rights. Though everybody knows this, why are there discussions about what people can and cannot refuse to do. Some people refuse to do things because it goes against their faith, which as stated earlier is allowed according to the first amendment. While others refuse to see what is right in front of them, in the very center of the Declaration of Independence.

Civil disobedience and peaceful resistance to laws have instigated within our country, in so many instances, much-needed change. The Boston Tea Party, the Suffragettes, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement are only a few examples of times that civil disobedience has redefined our country. Without peaceful resistance to laws on moral or political grounds, the citizens of the United States would not have many of the freedoms we value.

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

As compatriots of the United States, it is our responsibility and commitment to overthrow any type of social or civil injustice. In that process, we as American’s must ensure our rights by practicing a form of civil disobedience. In other words, we should not remain quiet in the roars of prejudice against a certain group of people. Leaders that derive from the civil rights movements like Martin Luther King Jr, Cesar Chavez, Malcolm X, Eleanor Roosevelt, and others have shown us that nothing we want will come into our laps, as humans we must work for the things that we want. In 1950’s through the 1960’s, there was a wave of activist who fought their way to the end of civil injustice, many used their orating skills and others recruited members

“Before the end of the school year, over 1500 black demonstrators were arrested.” (USHistory.org, 2016) Fortunately, their sacrifice brought results. The slow process of abandoning the restaurants’ policies of segregation began throughout the South. People in America could not handle with the segregation so many protests arose against it. One of the turning points in U.S. history on the way of desegregation was the Rosa Parks protest. It was well known that the condition of division black people from white people was unbearable. Mrs. Parks as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a person associated with the Civil Rights Movement in the South during the 1960s. Many years later she shared her thoughts: “Four decades later I am still uncomfortable with the credit given to me for starting the bus boycott. I would like (people) to know I was not the only person involved. I was just one of many who fought for freedom.”(C N Trueman "Rosa Parks”, May 19, 2018) On the first of December in 1955, she obeyed the bus driver James Blake's demand to give up her seat to a white passenger. Having refused to do that request resulted in her arrest and trials. Thus, the authorities woke the beast in the face of the society of black people. All this resulted in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the largest movement against racial segregation in history which gained a success. Due to her role in American history, Rosa Parks earned a status of leader in American culture. What is more, her actions influenced an overwhelming impact for civil rights movements in America and around the world. Her method was not violent. She used peaceful resistance for fighting for equality and resolution of oppression. She was sure that her action was not done on her own behalf but on the behalf of the whole black

Transcendentalism beliefs are still prominent in contemporary society. Transcendentalism stresses three key ideas: intuition, nature, and the over soul. It can be defined as a belief that the individual is at the center of society, and no institution is as powerful as the individual. There are many individuals who have exemplified some of these ideas in recent history, and some are currently practicing them. The ideas of transcendentalism began showing up in the 1830’s and were founded by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In 1955, a black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man, and changed the history of the black struggle of civil rights. Several have heard a simple version of Rosa Parks story, which she was tired from a long day of work resulted in bus desegregation. In actuality, steps to organize against bus segregation had begun years before, and the boycott was coordinated effort that involved approximately 40,00 people and over a year sacrifice. There had been several instances of Blacks refusing to obey the segregation laws on public transportation in the 1940’s. Rosa Parks, when she refused to give up her seat on a city bus, committed the most powerful act of civil disobedience in the American Civil Rights Movement.

(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)

On December 1, 1955, Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Park was seating in the front row on a bus on her way home. During that time, African American was not allow to sit in front of the bus they had to sit in the back were the signs says “ for Colored Only.” The driver James F. Blake order Rosa Parks and three other African American to move to the back of the bus, but Rosa Parks refuse to move to the back of the bus. She said “I had felt for a long time that if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so.” When she refuses to give up her seat she was arrest and fine ($10) ten dollar plus ($4) four dollar court cost. Rose Parks was not first African American to

Civil disobedience is America’s way of growing. Without historical examples, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, the United States would be stuck in antebellum ways of thought. The caveat of these national heroes was that they were peaceful. They did nothing to cause harm or damage. That made a point to their followers as well as their antagonists. In modern times, there are those that follow the rules of peaceful protesting (like the Women’s March on January 21, 2017). On the other hand, you have those who hide behind the term “civil disobedience” to cause destruction and chaos (like the UC Berkeley riots on February 1, 2017). Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts society, but violent resistance masquerading as civil disobedience is tearing our country, once united, to shreds.