Problem: Fighting for equality (equal rights).
There were laws that kept black and white people separated. They went to different schools, used different toilets, and even sat in different parts of a bus and ate in different areas of a restaurant.
This was called segregation.
On 1 December 1955 , Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Alabama (USA).
At that time in Montgomery, seats at the front of buses were reserved for white passengers, and the seats at the back for black passengers.
The bus quickly filled up and when a white man boarded, the driver told the African American passengers to give up their seats for him. Whilst the other black passengers obeyed, Rosa did not. The result? Rosa was arrested by the police and fined for breaking segregation laws! But Rosa refused to pay, and argued that it was the law that was wrong, not her behaviour.
On news of Rosa’s arrest, the black citizens of Montgomery came together and agreed to boycott the city’s buses in protest.
The boycott was managed by an organisation called the Montgomery Improvement Association, for which Dr Martin Luther King Jr was elected as leader.
Protesters stuck together and fought for their cause – and on 13 November 1956 their efforts were finally rewarded. After 381 days of boycotting the buses, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama’s racial segregation laws were ‘unconstitutional’ – meaning they weren’t valid and should not be recognised. In light of such a wonderful victory, Rosa became known as “the mother of the civil rights movement”.
Hey Zayden,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great break down of Rosa Parks story and the important issues around it as well as the great resulting social change. It's great to see that you've done the research and put the information in your own words, did you know about any of this before doing this activity?
Great detail and presentation as usual Zayden, keep up the great posts and you'll be finished the whole program in no time.
See you in the comments.
Daniel :)