"I'd just like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be also free" (Modigliani). The words Rosa Parks used to describe her ultimate hopes for the legacy she would leave behind are simple yet powerful. The fight for civil rights during the 1950s and 60s was hard-fought, though the results were long overdue. Rosa Parks, like many others, experienced discrimination for much of her life. However, when she acted against it, the nation listened, and she initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks influenced the civil rights movement by working to peacefully achieve equality. This peaceful approach proved to be successful, as the work and influence she had were key to the outcome of the civil rights movement. The effects of segregation and discrimination shape a person's life. Rosa experienced the harsh reality of unfair treatment for African Americans at a young age. These experiences likely shaped her attitude about the treatment of others and the rights everyone should be granted while living in a free country (SV; SV). Rosa's family strongly believed that they should have the same opportunities as whites. Her grandfather deeply influenced her opinion about equality. He often made comments such as, "The one thing he wanted most of all was for none of his children or anyone related to him to ever have to cook or clean for whites" (Dubovoy 89). Rosa's childhood, like all childhoods at the time, was directly affected by racial discrimination....
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...Rosa Parks created change in her home of Montgomery, Alabama that caused other cities and states across the country to reevaluate the social norms that limited people of the African American race, who were thought to be inferior to the white population in the United States. While this fight had started long before Rosa was born, it took until her actions, peaceful as they were, to truly make an impact on the prejudices that had been in place since the birth of the country. Through her childhood, arrest, long trial, and boycott, Rosa fought not only for her own rights but also for the rights of past and future African American citizens. Her peaceful impact is a reminder that change isn’t always the result of a violent fight but sometimes simply the act of standing your ground. While punishment may be immediate, Rosa is an example that justice will always prevail.
In 1955, and the years surrounding, many events took place during the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks was one of few people who undertook courageous acts to make a difference in history. Her legacy lives on to this day in literature because of authors such as Douglas Brinkley. His book, Rosa Parks, describes her life and shows her accomplishments. Brinkley shows how Rosa Parks is a prime example of inspiration to people in his book, and is evidenced by his attitude in the excerpt, his choice of detail, and his textual reference.
This was something she grew up with and was used to, she was used to being discriminated against because of her skin color. When she was 16 she dropped out of school to take care of her ill grandmother. She then learned how to type and took on sewing, where she later took her skills and became a seamstress and housekeeper to take care of her family. Also she and her husband was a member of the NAACP. Rosa Parks Call to Adventure occurred On December 1,1955, while she was sitting on a Montgomery bus after a long day of work.
Life - Rosa Parks was born only a month before world war one started in Europe on February 4, 1913. Parks mother worked as a school teacher in Tuskegee, Alabama. James McCauley, Rosa's dad was a carpenter. They lived in Tuskegee and owned farmland of their own. After Sylvester was born, Rosa's little brother, her father left them and went off to live in another town. He had been cheated out of his farmland by a white man and couldn't support the family any longer. Rosa her mother and her brother then moved to live with her grandparents on a farm in Pinelevel, which lay between Tuskegee and Montgomery, Alabama. It was a small plot of land, but it kept them all fed. From this point on Rosa was mainly brought up by her Grandparents with the assistance of her mother. Rosa gave up school when she came close to graduating, around the same time Rosa got married. Raymond Parks married Rosa McCauley December 18, 1932. He was a barber from Wedowee County, Alabama. He had little formal education but a thirst for knowledge. Her husband, Raymond Parks, encouraged her to finish her courses. In 1934 she received her diploma from Alabama State College. She was happy that she completed her education but had little hope of getting a better job. When Rosa had finished school she was lucky enough to get a job as a seamstress in a local sewing factory. Prior to the bus incident Rosa was still fighting. She had run-ins with bus drivers and was evicted from buses. Parks recalls the humiliation: "I didn't want to pay my fare and then go around the back door, because many times, even if you did that, you might not get on the bus at all. They'd probably shut the door, drive off, and leave you standing there."
The segregation in South Carolina happens everywhere and every day. Indeed, racism is manifested through the media, the law, which legitimizes segregation, and the perceptions that white and black people have of each other. Because of the laws against colored people, Rosaleen, as a black woman, lives with constraints in her life. For example, she cannot live in a house with white people (Kidd, p.8), she cannot represent Lily at the charm school (Kidd, p.19), or even to travel with a car with white people (Kidd, p.76). The media is also influenced by racism, and constantly shows news about segregation such as the case of Martin Luther King, who is arrested because he wan...
Henry David Thoreau’s work on civil disobedience in 1849 paved way for Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. His work stated that if you don’t like what is being done then don’t just say you want change be the change you want to see. In the case of Rosa Parks she didn’t find it right she had to sit in the back of the bus so she didn’t sit in the back. Then she was put into jail. After people heard about Rosa Parks they stood up and started protecting.
“On a cold December evening in 1955, Rosa Parks quietly incited a revolution by just sitting down” (Rosa Parks). Rosa Parks was 42 years old when she decided she was done putting up with what people told her to do. She suffered being arrested for fighting for what she wanted. Rosa Park’s obstinacy and the Bus Boycott were some acts that affected the Civil Rights Movement. Other effects of the Civil Rights Movement were the way African American were treated and how it changed America as a whole.
Rosa Parks was a member of the NAACP, lived in Montgomery Alabama, and rode the public bus system. In the south, during this time the buses were segregated which meant that black people had to ride in the back of the bus behind a painted line. White people entered the front of the bus and were compelled to sit in front of the painted line. Most buses at the time had more room for white riders who used the service less than the black ridership. Yet, they could not cross the line even if the seats in the front were empty (Brown-Rose, 2008). Rosa Parks made a bold statement when she sat in the “white section” of a Montgomery bus. She was asked to surrender her seat to a white man, but she did not move and was soon arrested. Her brave action started the Montgomery bus Boycott, with the help of the NAACP, none other than Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership as part of the Montgomery Improvement Association. As its President, he was able spread the word quickly which brought national attention to the small town of Montgomery’s bus Boycott. The boycott was televised and brought so much attention that the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional; a success spurring a more
"Rosa Parks." Biography 5.12 (2001): 64. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 22 May 2014.
Discrimination is “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things.” On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks was ordered to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and refused. This act of opposition defied all normalities for the average black woman. The treatment of a woman who was black compared to the treatment of a white woman in that age was completely discriminatory. Rosa Park’s strength to influence justice against racial segregation has slowly influenced justice against all discrimination. “The Help,” a 2009 novel written by American author, Kathryn Stockett, is a story about African-American maids working for white households in Jackson, Mississippi set in the early 1960’s. “The Help” depicts these women as individuals similar to Rosa Parks, who want to influence change and equality. Through “The Help,” the reader can relate the thoughts and views of the characters to our society today, particularly on the grounds of race, class and gender.
By not giving up her seat to a white man, Rosa Parks has started the cause of the civil rights movement in the United States. This helps all African Americans get rights in America. Rosa Parks saw racial discrimination in her early life. Also, she saw African Americans as not equal. She influenced the change of African American rights, which helped develop the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks helped influenced society, when she said no to a white male for her seat. The boycott of African American rights started after Rosa Parks did not give up her seat. Rosa Parks did not know she was going to influence society, nor did she know she was going to get arrested by doing this. Rosa Parks influence has helped change society and also is still a great example to others today.
African Americans living in the north had more freedom than in the south, but they still faced discrimination. They were able to work, but they worked enough to feed themselves and family, they were not able to succeed. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” (Martin Luther King). Many people are sometimes to afraid of what might happen if they fight racism, that they never fight it and in the end, they are never able to find out. Rosa Parks was one of the many people who became tired of the racism the United States had. “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free” (Rosa Parks). Rosa Parks was one of the many people who fought racism, which would eventually make our country a better place to live.
Being made famous for refusing to stand for a white man; Rosa Parks, often depicted as a shy seamstress, became a staple to the civil rights movement. Jeanne Theoharis book brings to light Mrs. Parks rebellious side; which seldom makes current curriculum. Through Rosa Parks several decades of activism, we see how the bus event was only one of many actions for social reform during her time.
For half of her life, there had been laws and customs that kept African Americans segregated from the Caucasians. These laws allowed whites to treat blacks without any respect. These actions were never thought to be fair. Even as a child, Rosa protested against disrespectful treatment. Yet, it was very difficult to do anything about the law, when all the law makers were of white ethnicity.
In the end, Rosa Parks got what she wanted; rights for blacks. Even though there is still racism today blacks are considered equal to whites. When she sat in her bus seat and said, “I’m tired of you [people] pushing [us] around.” It made a difference in this world. She became a positive role model for Colored people.
On the city buses of Montgomery, Alabama, the front 10 seats were permanently reserved for white passengers. The diagram shows that Mrs. Parks was seated in the first row behind those 10 seats (Bredhoff). That is to say, when Rosa