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The impact of the civil rights movement
Impacts of the civil rights movement
The impact of the civil rights movement
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In The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks, Jeanne Theoharis attempts to deconstruct the caricature of Rosa Parks that has permeated throughout a sixty-year time span. Parks’ legacy has been reduced down to the narrative of a small, reticent seamstress whose refusal to surrender her seat to a white man on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama landed her in jail and subsequently birthed a movement. This white-washed projection of Rosa Parks led many to believe that Parks’ matriarchal role of the civil rights movement was purely apolitical. However, in her biography of Parks, Jeanne Theoharis takes on the task of fully describing Parks’ political background and perspectives and to completely obliterate the myth that Parks had little or no political interest. …show more content…
In order to put Rosa Parks’ political involvement in perspective, Theoharis substantiates the reader with an exhaustive cognizance of Rosa Parks’ intellectual and political activities prior to her political action in 1955.
For example, the summer prior to Parks’ arrest, she attended a two-week long seminar at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee where the topic of discussion was “Racial Desegregation: Implementing the Supreme Court Decision,” and four months later she boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus, heading home. Theoharis takes this time to debunk the myth that the conception of desegregation and the civil rights movement, was a spontaneous spark that ignited a flame. According to Theoharis, the boycott was a long time coming. In 1954, JoAnn Robinson, threatened the mayor with a potential boycott with the endurance of segregated bus systems. A year and a half later, when Parks was arrested, Robinson and the WPC took action, and began printing and circulating the necessary literature announcing a boycott. Like a large portion of the civil rights movement, the boycott was executed through female
groundwork. Although Theoharis spends a great deal of The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks clarifying and dismissing any myths the reader may have learned prior to reading her book, in the final chapters of her book, Theoharis tries entirely too hard apply a radical edge to Parks. For example, she assiduously recounts Parks’s involvement in the Black Power movement in Detroit in the late 1960s and 1970s with great detail, while grazing over her lifelong devotion to her church, St. Matthews’ AME. It seems that Theoharis, has a need to validate Parks’ radicalness by isolating or omitting tamer moments from her life. Also, Theoharis includes biographical information about Parks grandfather to prove that there isn’t a meek bone in Parks’ body. She informs the readers that Parks grandfather was a follower of Marcus Garvey and was a believer black-nationalist pride.
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.
On December 1, 1955, Parks was taking the bus home from work. Before she reached her destination, she silently set off a revolution when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. As a black violating the laws of racial segregation, she was arrested. Her arrest inspired blacks in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to organize a bus boycott to protest the discrimination they had endured for decades. After filing her notice of appeal, a panel of judges in the District Court ruled that racial segregation of public buses was unconstitutional. It was through her silent act of defiance that people began to protest racial discrimination, and where she earned the name “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” (Bredhoff et
In conclusion, Rosa Parks was an outstanding hero that helped desegregate the city buses of Montgomery, Alabama. She gained a lot of fellow friendships and also became a civil right Activists. She earned a lot of respect and rewards for her actions of not giving her seat up. As you can see her life her hero story fits very well with Joseph Campbell’s stages of the hero’s
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."
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks historically known as Rosa Parks, was born February 4,1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama and past away from natural causes at age 92, on October 24,2005 in Detroit, Michigan. Parks lived with her mother Leona McCauley and her father James McCauley. Ater on in 115 her brother was born Sylvester Parks her only sibling.Both of park’s parents worked, her mother was employed as a teacher and her father was employed as a carpenter . Some time later after Parks’s brother was born her mother and father separated. Once the separation was final, Parks moved with her mother to Pine Level, Alabama while her brother and father moved to Montgomery, Alabama. parks was homeschooled by her mother until age 11 and attended Industrial
The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement Have you ever stood up for someone or something, even if it risked your own life? An upstander is someone who sees something harmful happening and tries their best to help out without second guessing themselves. Rosa parks is an inspirational role model to women and men all around the world. Rosa Parks has been a leader since she was a kid at school.
...the Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka case which struck down legal barriers to school integration. This was the first major success that black activists had enjoyed and it gave hope to the author that people really could make a difference when they were united, organized, and had justice on their side. It was in part, because of her enthusiasm about the outcome of the case that soon after the Supreme Court's Brown decision in 1954, Jo Ann Gibson Robinson wrote a letter to the mayor of Montgomery, W.A. Gayle, stating that "there has been talk from 25 or more local organizations of planning a city-wide boycott of buses." By 1955, the Women's Political Council, the same council who had previously be disinterested in Robinson’s plight, had plans for just such a boycott. I found this to be personally inspir ing in the sense that one person really can make a difference.
Even though this happened two years ago Rosa Parks has influenced many integrationists, whether or not in a bad way it was an influence. Rosa Parks is still an idol to many but, some here think she was just a bad influence. Rosa Parks did have courage most definitely but to say that she was extremely brave is nonsense some may say. Rosa Parks was not the first negro woman to refuse to give up her seat to a white person, that was 15-year old Claudette Colvin and she is not recognized by many. This event with Claudette Colvin happened about 9 months before Rosa Parks did this and she was arrested as well. Needless to say Rosa was involved in raising defense funds for Claudette. Rosa, when she did this, was trying to put out a “message” that
Commonly, Rosa Park’s arrests for refusing to yield her seat on a bus for a White man is a popular misconception of being the primary stimulant that kindled the uproar of the historical boycott of Montgomery’s buses known today. Contrarily, unprecedented, racially provoked violence, and discriminative and segregated events prior to Parks’ conviction motivated leaders to organize their communities for the challenge to break barriers of government’s disregards to Negro’s rights and race equality. Parks was the catalyst that spread to the community for the immediate need for change. Despite, Negroes limited sources, and assumptions they were impressionable and unintelligent; nevertheless, their stance made an economical impact to public transportation, crippled businesses’ revenue, and pressured the government to arbitrate laws against segregation. Within the short period of Parks’ arrest, Negroes were able to brainstorm various strategies that led to the success of the boycott, which included but not limited to the following: proper marketing, assertive leaders, and implementing a civil plan.
Rosa Parks got numerous honors amid her lifetime, including the Spingarn Medal, the NAACP's most noteworthy grant, and the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr. Honor. On September 9, 1996, President Bill Clinton granted Parks the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the most noteworthy honor given by the United States' official branch. The next year, she was granted the Congressional Gold Medal, the most elevated recompense given by the U.S. administrative branch. In 1999, TIME magazine named Rosa Parks on its rundown of "The 20 most compelling People of the twentieth Century."
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 was an African-American women who was tired of being treated differently just because of her skin color. She was a very kind woman who fought against all the laws and segregation. Rosa was born in 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama and died in 2005 in Detroit, Michigan (RM, plc. "Rosa (Louise McCauley) Parks"4). She did something that broke the law at the time but it changed this place and its keeps being an impact to everyone now in present days (Armentrout, DavidArmentrout, Patricia. "ALABAMA: Rosa Parks."1 ). She was on a Boycott bus on December 1, 1955 when the bus filled up and the African-Americans were supposed to give their seat up to the Americans but Rosa didn’t (Badertscher 1). She was 42 at this time so she knew what she was doing and she decided to do it anyways ("Rosa Parks"1). When she refused to give her seat up they ended up taking her to jail because she was breaking a law at the moment (Badertscher 7). She went to jail for something unfair, she was tired of getting no respect and treated like if she nobody or nothing in this world.
In 1954, the landmark trial Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, ruled that segregation in public education was unfair. This unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case, during which the “separate but equal” doctrine was created and abused. One year later, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. launched a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama after Ms. Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat in the “colored section”. This boycott, which lasted more than a year, led to the desegregation of buses in 1956. Group efforts greatly contributed to the success of the movement.
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.
Robinson, Jo Ann Gibson, and David J. Garrow. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It: the Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1987. Print.