Rosa Parks:

Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

Aanyia Stotts

Junior Division

Historical Paper

Paper length: 1,500 words

“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in”

-Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is known by many as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” for her

actions on the Montgomery public bus in 1955, On December 1st. On December 1st, 1955, Rosa

Parks was riding a public bus when she was asked to move back a row to make way for a white

passenger without a seat. Not only was she asked, but her whole row was asked to move back,

therefore adding another row of seats to the “white seating section.” She was the only one in

her row who refused to move. Even though she was warned and threatened many times by the

bus driver to move, she still refused. At one point the bus driver was so driven by anger that he

even tried to move her by force. He grabbed her arm and tried to drag her out of the seat but

to no avail. Eventually the police got there and she was arrested and put in jail for violation of

city law. At the time, it was just seen as an action of stubbornness or a good story for the

newspaper, some people even said that she was just too tired to move. She, in fact, said, “The

only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” This action of resistance was a great stepping stone for

the civil rights movement and society as well, and the president of the NAACP recognized this

fact very quick.

Rosa Parks may be known for her actions on December 1st in 1955, but not many

people know her backstory. Even though she is seen, by many people, as a hero who stood for

what she believed in, she had many struggles in her youth other than segregation. When she

was very young her parents separated and she was forced to live on her grandparent’s farm,

and she had struggles there as well. She faced many illnesses which resulted in her being a

small child, and she was not the only one in her family prone to illness. Unfortunately, her

grandmother became sick when Rosa Parks was older and she was forced to drop out of school

in order to take care of her grandmother who was plagued with an sickness. She grew up on her

grandparent’s farm which was near Montgomery, Alabama, and even though most of her

struggles were not related to her racial background, some were. When she was living on her

grandparent’s farm near Montgomery, there was a march in the streets by the Klu Klux Klan.

Her family felt so unsafe do to the march, that her grandfather stood outside of the door with a

loaded shotgun in hand. Where she lived may have influenced her some of her struggles, but it

also helped her develop strong roots in the African American church which gave her strength

and persistence that would help her later in life.

Jim Crow laws were also a large reason of why she stood up for her rights. Jim Crow

laws prevented the black community and white community from cooperating as a peaceful

people. Instead of cooperation, the black people and white people were seen as different

classes. White people were higher class, and black people were lower class. By separating the

community, the government created a power imbalance, and gave the white people more

power. There were black water fountains and white water fountains and based on what race

you were, you had to go to that certain water fountain. There were also school rules for black

children. For example, there were separate rooms for black students, and in some places there

were even separate schools for black children.

Jim Crow laws were everywhere, and they changed from state to state and from city to

city. In Alabama, "It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of

food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless such

white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the

floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the

street is provided for each compartment." In Georgia, "All persons licensed to conduct the

business of selling beer or wine...shall serve either white people exclusively or colored people

exclusively and shall not sell to two races within the same room at any time." In North Carolina,

"The state librarian is directed to fit up and maintain a separate place for the use of the colored

people who may come to the library for the purpose of reading books or periodicals." Jim crow

laws would vary depending on the government in a certain location. In Montgomery, Alabama,

there were also laws on buses. There weren't different buses, but there was a white section and

a black section. The black section was in the back and the white section was in the front. Even

more than the separate seating areas, black passengers had to get on the bus in the front to

pay and then get off, go to the back entrance, and get on again. There was also a rule that, if

there wasn't room for a white passenger in the white section, then the black person in the row

just behind the white section would have to move back. Not only that person had to move, the

entire row would have to move back, meaning that the white section would expand and move

back a row also. Therefore, making the black passenger seating section smaller. The last bus

rule that was mentioned was what Rosa Parks refused to cooperate with.

December 1st, 1955, is when the beginning event took place. On December 1st, Rosa

Parks was on the bus when a white passenger boarded. There were no more seats in the white

seating section so the bus driver told her and the other people in her row to move back a row.

Rosa Parks was the only one to refuse. She said that she was, “tired of giving in.” She was

threatened and warned many times. At one point, the bus driver even tried moving her by

force. The bus driver grabbed her by the arm and tried to drag her out of the seat. The police

finally showed up and arrested her for not following city law. She was only in jail for about a

half of a day before the president of the NAACP bailed her out. Not only did he bail her out but

he also rallied an estimated 40,000 people to follow a little known priest named Martin Luther

King Jr., in a boycott of the buses. This boycott was advertised in the local newspapers so that

word would get out quickly. The boycott was actually a very long process though. It took until

1956 to get the buses desegregated. During the process of the boycott, many people wanted to

give in and ride the buses, and some did. There were also those who were persistent and did

not give in. Many people were sick of segregation as well but were too shy to say anything.

Because Rosa Parks stood against the segregation, she was noticed. There were stories in the

local newspapers about her stubbornness and persistence that caught the eye of many people.

On November 13th, 1956, the supreme court struck down the segregation law and the buses

were finally desegregated. Without Rosa Parks’ action, it would have taken much longer to start

taking down the Jim Crow laws. She helped bring down the laws that put down the black

people. Rosa Parks was one of the people that helped our society get to where we are today.

We still have racism today, but not nearly as bad as back then. Now there are no racial laws

that separate black people and white people. We have come a long way from where we were

as a society. Not only did our society come far. But so did Rosa Parks. She came a long way from

just a woman on a bus who was tired of giving in. Rosa Parks not only desegregated the buses,

but she also inspired many. She was brave and stood up for what she believed in. She had faith

that all of her courage would pay off. She showed that with persistence, strength, and courage,

you could change things for the better. She showed people that they had the power to make a

change in society. She showed that we don’t deserve certain rights because we’re black or

white, we deserve rights because we’re all human. She passed away on October 24th, 2005. But

she left with her head high and the knowledge that things were going to get better. Rosa Parks

may have died, but the message she sent to the world still lives. Rosa was an inspiration to

many, including me.

“Rosa Parks Seated toward the Front of the Bus, Montgomery, Alabama, 1956.” 12 Photos of Rosa

Parks to Celebrate Her Historical Act of Resistance,

i.amz.mshcdn.com/_S7W6P8Bx7hRmn02Y5C83HdS6fA=/fit-in/1440x1000/http%3A%2F

%2Fmashable.com%2Fwp-content%2Fgallery%2Frosa-parks%2Fgettyimages-142622448.jpg.

“Rosa Parks' Booking Photo Was Taken at the Time of Her Arrest for Refusing to Give up Her Seat

on a Montgomery, Alabama, Bus to a White Passenger on December 1, 1955.” 12 Photos of Rosa

Parks to Celebrate Her Historic Act of Resistance, i.amz.mshcdn.com/clkZrk3QO6qPdX6ppvoy4w-

EUFg=/fit-in/1440x1000/http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Fwp-content%2Fgallery%2Frosa-parks

%2Fgettyimages-113491410.jpg.

Annotated BibliographyExamples of Jim Crow Laws ["Examples of Jim Crow Laws"]. Your Dictionary, examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-

of-jim-crow-laws.html. Accessed 9 Feb.2017. This cite showed me examples of Jim Crow laws.

Negroes Make a Fight ["Negroes Make a Fight"]. Fergus Falls Daily Journal, p. 4. Access Newspaper Archive, access.newspaperarchive.com/us/minnesota/ fergus-falls/fergus-falls-daily-journal/1956/03-07/ page-4?tag=Rosa+Parks&rtserp=tags/ ?ndt=by&py=1955&pey=1956&pf=rosa&pl=parks&psb=relavance. Accessed 12 Jan. 2017. Rosa Parks was one of the citizens in the black community to fight for her rights and she was

arrested for that.

Rosa Parks ["Rosa Parks"]. Biography.com, www.biography.com/people/ rosa-parks-9433715. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017. Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist who fought for her

rights.

Rosa Parks ["Rosa Parks"]. History.com, www.history.com/topics/black-history/ rosa-parks. Accessed 30 Dec. 2016. Rosa Parks faced struggles before the bus incident but there were

many struggles then too.

Rosa Parks ["Rosa Parks"]. NWHM, www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/ biographies/rosa-parks/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2016. Rosa Parks was an African American woman who was arrested for not moving her seat for a white passenger. She was arrested and freed under bail by the president of the NAACP who organized a boycott in order to desegregate the buses. Rosa Parks ["Rosa parks"]. Rosa Parks, www.thehenryford.org/explore/ stories-of-innovation/visionaries/rosa-parks/ #gallery-video=EyZ3JtMzqSRuLLaPOi-ifv2gE679g5G6. Accessed 24 Dec. 2016. Video explained in more

detail about the segregated buses

Rosa Parks Biography ["Rosa Parks Biography"]. Biography Onlines, www.biographyonline.net/humanitarian/rosa-parks.html. Accessed 22 Dec. 2016. Rosa Parks was a woman of inspiration. She stood up for her rights as a black woman and she won the fight through perseverance. She fought through many struggles to make a good life for herself and that is why she is such an inspiration to all people.

Rosa Parks Early Life & Childhood. Rosa Parks Facts .com, rosaparksfacts.com/ rosa-parks-early-life-childhood/. Accessed 16 Dec. 2016. This site helped me see that Rosa Parks had

struggles before she refused to give up her seat on the bus. I always thought of the struggle of racism was her only problem but she had some in childhood. For example, her parents got

divorced when she was very young.

12 Photos of Rosa Parks to Celebrate Her Historical Act of Resistance ["12 Photos of Rosa Parks to Celebrate Her Historical Act of Resistance"]. Mashable, mashable.com/2015/12/01/rosa-parks-60th-anniversary/ #WOduqvV1k5qp. Accessed 10 Feb. 2017. This site helped me find pictures of Rosa Parks on the bus and of her in general.