Social Injustice Issues : Eleanor Roosevelt And Social Injustice Issues

Civil rights activist Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. At the age of two she moved to her grandparents' farm in Pine Level, Alabama with her mother and younger brother, Sylvester. At the age of 11 she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, a private school founded by liberal-minded women from the northern United States. The school's philosophy of self-worth was consistent with Leona McCauley's advice to "take advantage of the opportunities, no matter how few they were." Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus spurred a city-wide boycott. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is a civil rights activist and is a tragic hero known for her Strength, bravery, wisdom, peace and perseverance taking a major role in the Montgomery bus boycott and standing up against oppression, She and many others stood up for their rights, She refused to surrender her seat on a segregated Montgomery Alabama city bus on the day of December 1, 1955 which began the 381 day long Montgomery Bus Boycott which then helped launch the nation wide efforts to end segregation of public facilities.

There were many problems in society that no one knew of until Eleanor Roosevelt brought them to light. “It’s easy to stand with the crowd. It takes courage to stand alone.” Mahatma Gandhi said. Eleanor decided to do what was right and help people instead of going along with what other people thought. Her rough childhood pushed her to help people that were oppressed. Eleanor especially knew what it was like to be ignored.

The idea of peacekeeping and the maintaining of order began centuries ago. However, long ago women were not involved in this. As women did enter within 20th century their role was limited. As time passes, change takes place.

Women have long been fighting for their right to be seen as equal to men. Even to this day, women continue to fight for their rights, things such as the right to non-gender discriminatory wages. While there may be some arguments over the state of gender equality in the modern world, it is undeniable that there have been great strides made toward recognizing the female 's worth in the workforce and as a human being. Despite these strides, however, things are still not yet ideal for women and many of the issues females face today are the very same issues that have been plaguing them for decades. While it is unfortunate the oppression of women has been so long-lived, the length of that exposure has thankfully enabled many talented writers to both lament over the fact and emphasize the need for gender equality.

Rosa Parks, also called the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” was given the NAACP's Spingarn Medal and the Martin Luther King, Jr. nonviolent-peace prize. Rosa Parks was also awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Woman of Courage award in 1984. Rosa’s influence and impact on the society is one that can never be replaced. Rosa was not only the person who took that seat, but she has plenty of respect because of her personality as a strong willed woman. Where did all this began?

Today, women and minorities have a wide variety of professions they can pursue; but it was not always that way. Before the Civil Rights Movement, women and minorities, especially black people, were bounded to a stereotypical or subservient role in society without the right to voice their opinions. Some, however, did take a stand to fight for equal rights against all odds. These people were called Civil Rights activists and many became leaders. Among the many famous pioneers such as Martin, Malcolm, and Angela, was a woman of great pride and honor – Shirley Chisholm. Chisholm was a civil rights leader who championed the causes of equal rights and fair treatment for both women and minorities through her determination, community involvement, and

The Granges ultimate goal was to help farmers “gain economic leverage and strengthen the commercial position of the American farmer” (Globalyceum, The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, 1877-1914). The Labor Unions and the Grange set up social justice for the workers during the Gilded Age. They both built social solidarity and collaborative action, as well as empowered the workers to exercise self-determination, realize their full potential, and fight for what they deserved as workers.

Attention Grabber: catch the reader’s attention (Can be a surprising statistic, a rhetorical question, an anecdote or a summary of a fact)-Rosa Parks didn’t STAND UP for her civil rights, she SAT DOWN for them.

Would you have ever thought that disobeying against the law would make the world a better place? Back in the 1920’s and early 1960’s, African Americans had to go to separate schools then that of white people. Blacks had separate water fountains, seats on the bus, and were treated as second class citizens. Those who weren’t white suffered the consequences of a matter they couldn’t control; however, they fought back with civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is fighting against the laws in a respectful and peaceful manner (Suber). This form of action was used to speak up for a community who was suffering and only wanted to live as everyone else. Civil disobedience is a protest that says “we only want peace”.

Most local governments had a laissez faire approach to prostitution and that motivated several social justice reformers to band together during the Progressive Era. Iowa became the first state to pass injunction and abatement laws in 1909. Again, state prostitution laws didn’t exist up until that point in history! Although, every state eventually followed suit by passing those same laws, which allowed police to shut down brothels as “public nuisances” as long as there were complaints from concerned citizens and the judge agreed with their opinion. Consequently, many cities began shutting down their red-light districts, but some notable cities such San Francisco, New Orleans, and San Antonio didn’t enforce the new laws.

The Great Depression (1929-1939) is arguably one of the darkest, most hopeless times in American history. After the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, nearly the entire nation was in economic turmoil. Banks and businesses were closing, families were left penniless, and children were starving. The United States was in dire need of change if it hoped to recover from such a disaster. With the newly elected first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, that change was coming. Over the course of the next decade, Roosevelt used the New Deal to combat the crisis. The New Deal is the collective term for government acts, programs, and projects enforced to assist those suffering during the Great Depression. Using her influence as first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt effectively displayed civil disobedience by taking action on behalf of youth, women, African Americans, and the unemployed through the New Deal.

“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.

First, name calling is a form of bullying seen throughout the novel. Rowell constantly shows the reader the various times that Eleanor is being bullied, reminding the readers that this is still a relevant social issue now. In Rowell’s novel, she writes a scene where Eleanor is being bullied at school in gym, “She had everybody else in their gym class calling Eleanor Bozo, but Tina had already moved on to Raghead and Bloody Mary. [Tina the one bullying Eleanor then goes on to explain why those names fit her] ‘Cuz it looks like your whole head is on the rag,’ she’d explained today

Over the years in our country’s history it has been apparent that the idea of same sex marriages is becoming much more popular, however in most states there is still one thing stopping them. That one thing stopping two people from the pursuit of happiness which they desire is a social injustice. Social injustices are situations where a person or group of people is treated unfairly due to certain factors for example discrimination, prejudice, racism, heterosexism, sexism, and so forth. In the case of same sex marriages, the factor playing a major role in this social injustice is where most people believe that opposite sexes attract, but in the case of a same sex couple wanting to be married, this brings about many topics to be discussed by