FREE ESSAY ON ROSA PARKS

ROSA PARKS

~*ROSA PARKS*~
Racism and prejudice have been dominant issues in the United States for many years.
People, particularly African Americans, have been denied basic human rights such as
getting a fair trial, eating in a certain restaurant, or sitting in certain seats of
public buses. However, in 1955 a woman named Rosa Parks took a stand, or more correctly
took a seat, on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She refused to give her seat to a
white man and was arrested for not doing so. She was weary of the discrimination she
faced due to the Jim Crow laws, which were laws were intended to prohibit black Americans
from mixing with white Americans. Also, due to the Jim Crow laws, blacks were required to
give their seats to white passengers if there were no more empty seats. This is exactly
what happened on December 1, 1955...... 
On her way home from work, Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man and was
shortly arrested. Even though she knew what the consequences were for refusing to leave
her seat, she decided to take a stand against a wrong that was the norm in society. She
knew that she would be arrested, yet she decided that she would try to make a change.
Although her arrest would seem like she lost her battle, what followed would be her
victory. 
Rosa Parks' stand was so significant that she is called the mother of the civil rights
movement. Her arrest served as a catalyst for a massive boycott for public busses. Led by
Martin Luther King, for 381 days, African Americans carpooled, walked, or found other
ways of transportation. Despite the harassment everyone involved in the movement faced,
the boycott continued and was extremely successful. The bus company suffered from the
loss of fares, but did not desegregate its busses. In 1965, the case was brought to
court, and segregation of busses was ruled unconstitutional, the busses were officially
desegregated on December 21, 1956. 
The movement Rosa Parks started climaxed with the Civil Rights act of 1964 and the Voting
Rights act of 1965, which made Rosa a hero. Rosa Parks worked for the equality of all
people. She was elected secretary of the Montgomery branch of the National Advancement of
Colored People, unsuccessfully attempted to vote many times to prove her point of
discrimination, and had numerous encounters with bus drivers who discriminated against
blacks. She received many tributes and awards, such as the NAACP's Spingarn Medal in 1970
and the Martin Luther King Jr. Award in 1980. Rosa Parks' stand is significant to our
society because she showed us that one person can help so many other people by standing
up for what they believe in.