Rosa Parks was an average, African American woman of Alabama in the 1950s. It was a troublesome time for African Americans, for they had less rights as citizens, and particularly in the South, racial discrimination was abundant. Schools and public places were segregated, including public transportation; Southern bus drivers required African Americans to sit in the back of the bus so whites could have the more convienent front seats. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks became much more than the average woman - she became the tragic hero when she refused to give up her seat in the front of the bus to a white man.
When the bus driver required Rosa to stand up and move to the back of the bus, she responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up." She would not leave that seat simply because she was ordered to as she viewed this policy as a challenge to her personal pride and honor. Rosa would not move because she felt that merely giving up the seat that should have been rightfully hers would be, in a way, giving up her dignity. She was arrested for violating Montgomery City Code; she sacrificed her security for the sake of maintaining her dignity, and as a result African Americans as a race were benefitted.
Rosa Parks' sacrifice was an essential event to trigger the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. African Americans protested the arrest by organizing a citywide boycott of the bus system. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 381 days and city officials were forces to put an end to the segregation of public transportation. The success gained national attention and inspired other protests over segregated public facilities. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People officials elected Martin Luther King Jr. as a leader and the Civil Rights Movement continued to advance. Today, African Americans have gained many rights as citizens and few areas exist of entire exclusion. Rosa Parks' fight for her dignity was also a fight for her race as a whole - her small action was a great achievement for millions of African Americans, not just in Montgomery but all throughout American society.
When the bus driver required Rosa to stand up and move to the back of the bus, she responded, "I don't think I should have to stand up." She would not leave that seat simply because she was ordered to as she viewed this policy as a challenge to her personal pride and honor. Rosa would not move because she felt that merely giving up the seat that should have been rightfully hers would be, in a way, giving up her dignity. She was arrested for violating Montgomery City Code; she sacrificed her security for the sake of maintaining her dignity, and as a result African Americans as a race were benefitted.
Rosa Parks' sacrifice was an essential event to trigger the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. African Americans protested the arrest by organizing a citywide boycott of the bus system. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 381 days and city officials were forces to put an end to the segregation of public transportation. The success gained national attention and inspired other protests over segregated public facilities. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People officials elected Martin Luther King Jr. as a leader and the Civil Rights Movement continued to advance. Today, African Americans have gained many rights as citizens and few areas exist of entire exclusion. Rosa Parks' fight for her dignity was also a fight for her race as a whole - her small action was a great achievement for millions of African Americans, not just in Montgomery but all throughout American society.