For the majority of history in the United States, particularly in the southern United States, the hierarchy of white superiority remained a dominant and controlling reality. This mythology of white superiority went unchallenged for decades. However, as race relations and tensions started to climax during the era of the Civil Rights Movement, this discourse soon meet its challengers. In Montgomery, Alabama, arguably one of the most racist and defiant cities towards the movement of integration, people began to challenge the notion of racial segregation through a movement known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This movement, which lasted from December of 1955 to December of 1956, helped push the civil rights movement forward and challenge the …show more content…
By accepting arrest and remaining calm, poised, and humane, Parks, along with other heroic leaders of the movement, sets precedent for a major theme in the civil rights movement; non-violence. While non-violence was not always implicated throughout the Civil Rights Movement, it remains a powerful tactic which arguably helped the movement achieved the success it saw. Furthermore, her icon began to represent the plight of the black struggle in america, and her case went on to stage a precedent for the movement: that the black community would no longer tolerate the discrimination that it had endured for generations. Following the arrest of Rosa Parks, many organizations and people began to prepare for the bus boycott and other fights against segregation. One of these people was Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (Eyes on the Prize). While he is notable for his countless contributions and extensive leadership work during the Civil Rights Movement, his foundations at the Montgomery Bus Boycott remain prominent and influential. Specifically, the speech he delivered at the Holt Street Baptist Church on December 5, 1955 provides insight to his heroism and aids in uniting and driving the beginnings of the movement (Eyes on the Prize). In his speech, he calls for blacks to “work with grim and firm determination to gain justice on the buses” (Martin Luther King Jr.). He aims to establish the need for the
Montgomery’s group of civil rights advocates decided to dispute racial segregation on city buses after the arrest of Rosa Parks whom refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. The advocated created the Montgomery Improvement Association in order to boycott the transit system and King was chose as their leader. During his first speech king stated: “We have no alternative but to protest. For many years, we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.” On December 21st of 1956, the United States Supreme Court declared segregation on buses as unconstitutional and which allowed African Americans the same equality of Caucasians as they rode the bus. During this time, King’s was arrested, his home was dynamited and family was threatened but he still persevered and never gave in to using violence to demand what was right.
“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” This was said by Rosa Parks. She was an enormous inspiration to the African American Race. She was one among many who lived in a rough time for African Americans. She lived in a time when equality wasn’t really equal. When African Americans were scared/ weren’t allowed to state their opinions on different matters. However, Rosa Parks was an individual who stood up for herself. Rosa Parks helped the Civil Rights Movement and African Americans gain equality mainly through her courage and refusal to move.
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).
During the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King highlighted the effectiveness of peaceful resistance. When Parks refused to leave a bus seat upon demand of a white man, she was arrested for civil disobedience. Such a simple action triggered a 381-day boycott of public buses and furthered the growing movement. King later described this movement in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” where he explained the bombings that drew him to Birmingham, and how he would peacefully pursue a solution through large-scale civil disobedience. Both Parks and King peacefully revealed injustice to the public, and the violent responses from their opponents allowed the media to highlight the impacts of segregation, mainly poverty, physical threats, and verbal prejudice. Again, civil disobedience broadened social inequality, while also reducing the violence, poverty, and discrimination that African Americans experienced, increasing their involvement in modern government and the overall equality of the
On the morning of parks trial buses rumbled nearly empty through the streets of Montgomery. By the next morning the council led by Jo Ann Robinson had printed 52,000 fliers asking, Montgomery blacks to stay off the buses. It was an important and an accepted rule that whites sit in the front and the African American riders had to sit in the back of all buses. A group of about 50 African American leaders and one white minister, Robert Graetz, gathered in the basement of Dr. King?s church to endorse the boycott and begin planning a massive rally.
One cold December day a woman got onto a bus after a long shift at work, exhausted from the day she plopped down in a seat near the front. The next stop many white people boarded and the bus started to get full so they moved back until they reached the woman's seat. This was a problem because this woman, Rosa Parks, was black and had to move or she would end up in jail. Even with that knowledge, she refused to give that seat up. Many blacks faced this problem every day during the Civil Rights Movement, but weren't brave enough to stand up for their rights like Rosa was. After Rosa said "no" many realized they could stand up for their rights as well. Parks helped with people's involvement during these tough times and was involved herself. Due
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began with the remarkable effort to attack and dismiss the principle of separate but equal (Piven and Cloward 1979, p. 207). Credited to the aftermath of the effort, Frances Fox Piven denoted, “Protest had become possible; victories had become possible” (Piven and Cloward 1979, p.208). The significance is laying the groundwork to reject any type of possible segregation in the future, making equality in society tangible rather than abstract. The civil rights movement later went to display tactics more in the public grounds, on highly influential boycotts. Rosa Park’s arrest sparked the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955, a large scale boycott led by Martin Luther King (Piven and Cloward 1979, p. 209). The successful Montgomery boycott was then followed by the similarly successful Tallahassee boycott of 1956 (Piven and Cloward 1979, p. 212). Both successful boycott demonstrated the expansion of power that the movement needed to gain political influence. The wide variety of actions by the protest groups ignited the success of the civil rights
This boycott that lasted for more than a year, also demonstrated the unity and determination of black residents and inspired blacks elsewhere to stand up for their rights. The Montgomery bus boycott marked the beginning of a new era for the CRM, it has been called the second reconstruction, as it was the beginning of the last great battle blacks had to fight to gain equal rights with whites. This is what Rosa Parks, whose bold act of defiance helped ignite this boycott to occur. The event with Till was also a catalyst, as it inspired Parks to act with this bold personal defiance. MLK also became the new leader because of his believe in nonviolence. It was proved the perfect tactic to achieve equality. This peaceful response to the violence persuaded many whites of justice of giving black their rights and the evil of racist opposition to
On December 1, 1955 an African American woman by the name of Rosa Parks started a movement that would make one of the biggest impacts in history. A quite serious law in Alabama 1955 stated all African Americans were required not only to sit in the back of the bus but also relinquish their seats to any white men or women in the event the bus was full. Rosa Parks was taking public transportation when she was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger and refused. Later that day she was arrested on Civil Disobedience charges, but her actions did not go unnoticed. Her brave and bold move sparked a boycott only three days later of the Montgomery bus system that would last 382 days.
In the 1950’s, many people in America agreed with a law, enforced by Congress, that people should be segregated by their skin color, which led to those who were deemed inferior to physical violence and mental harassment. The people that did not agreed with these laws, known as the human activists, pursued an extensive battle to abolish racial inequality and segregation in America. The Montgomery Bus Boycott affected American history through its influence on Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., the protest against segregation, and the aftermath of the boycott. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. were two major influences that established the boycott, however, their influence not only affected the boycott in Montgomery, but paved the history
“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.
One of the most popular struggles was the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott. This boycott protested the unjust in the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama, following the events of Rosa Park’s arrest. He gave a speech that rallied up the black community to boycott the public transportation without using any means of assault. This campaign turned out to be very
Actions speak louder than words. Rosa Parks could have said that she was tired of getting mistreated by the whites, but she took matters in to her own hands. Civil disobedience is a type of protest in which protesters deliberately violate a law. Civilians basically disobey law’s. They want the society to see the dissenting view that they see. Rosa Parks was a independent black woman, standing up for what she believed in. Rosa Parks involvement in civil disobedience was due to personal influences, refusing to give her seat to a white, and she did achieve success unsung this controversial method of standing up for what she strongly believes to be right. She was a very brave but also stubborn woman.
Rosa Parks and ruby bridges play a very important part in society. Rosa was one of the most influential women of the civil rights movement. Rosa’s early life was not easy. She was born in february 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her father was a carpenter and fire mother was a teacher. Rosa was sick a lot and because of that she wasn’t tall. When she saw a water fountain that said color she thought it came in colors. Eaven kids had to go through that. When you think you have a hard life, just think on back then when people wanted to kill you because of your skin. Rosa Parks did many things in her life. She got married to Raymond Parks in December 18,1932. For extra income she took in sewing and other jobs then she went to Alabama's state teachers college. What do you think of Rosa Parks when you here her name? She was best known for her civil rights movement. Rosa parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on the bus. She was taken to jail after this. When this happened thousands of blacks didn’t ride the bus. After a few years she was rewarded for standing up for her writes.
Rosa Parks was an important person in the Civil Rights Movement. She is famous for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus operated by the Montgomery Bus Line. This act pushed her to the forefront of the Civil Rights movement. Though this is what she was famous for she had been active in the Civil Rights Movement and NAACP for many years prior to her famous act of defiance.