Notes

Every black person in America was angry at how they were treated. It was the event, when African American thought its enough. All the events that occurred before 1955 were the first steps of ladder that reached up to this big event, Rosa Parks’ refusal to sit on the back of the bus. Before this event, African Americans took a lot without fighting back. But Rosa Parks did not. Rosa Parks took her action as a private citizen "tired of giving in". Her contribution took place in 1955. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks paid her bus fare and sat in an empty seat in front of the bus where the blacks were not allowed to sit according to Jim Crow laws. Initially, she had not noticed that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943. As the bus traveled along its regular route, all of the white-only seats in the bus filled up. Driver wanted Rosa Parks to stand up and was forced to give her seat to a white person. Rosa Parks at the age of 42 then refused to stand up, because she was tired of giving in. Her situation made it impossible to ignore racism.

The effects of Rosa Parks’ actions were many, large and widespread. Rosa Parks’ actions affected the African American society in many positive ways. On December 1st, 1955, when Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, this brave woman, Rosa parks was arrested and fired for violating a city ordinance but her lonely act of defiance started the Montgomery bus boycott. The local African American community organized this, Montgomery bus boycott by walking or carpooling to work for over one year within the collaborative work of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. Many civil rights leaders felt that non – violent protests, such as Montgomery bus boycott were needed to advance civil rights. So, during the time when the Montgomery bus boycott lasted (December 20, 1956 – a total of 381 days), civil rights movements were on the peek. Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 are very significant effects of Rosa Parks’ actions that guarantee the basic civil rights for all Americans. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, including racial segregation. In 1965, U.S congress passed the acts to ensure the voting rights of African Americans that prohibited Southern states from using literacy tests to determine eligibility to vote. Later laws prohibited literacy tests in all states and made poll taxes illegal in state and local elections. In 1945, the State of Alabama passed a law requiring that all bus companies under its jurisdiction enforce segregation. In addition, under Jim Crow laws, black and white people were segregated in virtually every aspect of daily life in South including public transportation. Although these acts or laws were against African Americans, Rosa Parks’ lonely act of defiance began a movement that ended legal segregation in America and made her an inspiration to freedom. The evidence of this is the decision of Supreme Court of America on November 1956 that declared the segregation on Alabama buses unconstitutional. It was dedicated to fully gaining full equality for African Americans. It finally surrendered the transportation system and made city’s buses racially equal. In result of Parks’ actions, U.S congress called her the, “First lady of civil rights and the mother of freedom movement”.

The brave woman, Rosa Parks was an intelligent and courageous woman who stood up to injustice for humanity. She was a really nice lady even though she grew up in a segregated society and was tired of giving in. I admire how she didn’t give up and tried her best to give all black people their rights. Rosa Parks changed the history by standing up against segregation when every thing was going on very complex in her society. Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a white person seems a very simple action but it actually changed the American segregated society by guarantying equal treatment for all citizens of the United States of America, according to the 14th amendment. Parks encouraged the new generations to participate in social causes to help the community make social changes. Rosa Parks has taught us, how a woman could shape our society by standing up in the face of adversity. Parks has faced many complexities to help this society become equal for every one –no matter what race, color or background they have. Besides, losing her job as a seamstress during 1950s, being harassed and threatened by others when she was fighting for the civil rights of African Americans, Parks suffered from Dementia (a disorder in which one loses his/ her thinking ability) in her final years. Parks died in Detroit, Michigan, U.S at the age of 92. Parks eventually received many honors, ranging from 1976 Spingarn Medal to Presidential Medal of freedom, the Congressional Gold medal and a posthumous statue in the U.S capitol’s National Statuary Hall. Also, she was granted the posthumous honor of lying in honor at the capitol Rotunda. Parks’ act of defiance became an important symbol of the modern civil rights movement and Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. We as Americans and civil people are privileged to have had a person as fine as Rosa Parks willing to spark change in our country. Her memories will live on and teach the children that even today we still need to embrace our civil rights as people and
Americans.









Document 3: Rosa Parks (Internet)
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1

Document 5: Voting Rights Act (Encyclopedia)
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Civil+Rights+Act+of+1965

Document 6: Civil Rights Movement (Internet)
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/index.html

Document 7: Rosa Parks affected our lives (Internet)
http://www.laney.peralta.edu/apps/pub.asp?Q=29

Document 8: Effects of the incident (Internet)
http://historyday13.tripod.com/id6.html

Document 9: Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

Document 10: Montgomery Bus Boycott
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Bus_Boycott

Document 11: Segregation
http://answers.yourdictionary.com/history/US-history/when-did-segregation-start.html