FAMOUS PEOPLE

Rosa Parks is widely known as the African-American woman who refused to get off her seat on a bus. She did not want to forfeit her seat in order for a white individual to replace her. She was arrested and taken into custody against her will, just because she felt the need to stay on the seat she felt she rightfully deserved. On December 1st, 1955, according to history, Rosa Parks was tired and exhausted from a long day of work. In fact, under different circumstances, she would have probably given up her seat willingly to a child or elderly person. But at this point in history, Parks was tired of the treatment she and other African-Americans received everyday of their lives. This included racism, segregation, prejudice and the Jim Crow laws of the time. After she took a stance, Americans seemed to notice and the laws and regulations of the time were questioned and subsequently, revised. Before her arrest, Parks had the fire inside of her to change what was wrong with things that were unjust. She served as secretary of the NAACP and later an adviser to the NAACP Youth Council and tried to register to vote on many occasions when it was basically impossible to do so. Not only was Parks a legitimate figure in the African-American community, but also she initiated change without really realizing so. After the bus incident, the establishment of the Montgomery Improvement Association was implemented, led by a young pastor named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The world today is clearly different all because of Rosa Parks refusing to give her seat up. Her action lead to reaction, which is the most important part in establishing change. Her act of defiance began a movement that ended legal segregation in America. This meant that people of different color could finally start drinking from the same water fountain, restrooms were not designated “colored” and “white,” and one of the most important things was that schools started desegregating, which meant black and white children could attend the same schools. This last item was finally implemented by the passing of the Brown v. Board of Education law, but it would not have been able to happen if Rosa Parks had gotten up from her seat. Had she done that, our future as Americans would have been compromised and the laws that are active today might have been something African-Americans would still be fighting for.