Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was the woman who would change history in America by a single act of will, what she did would bring about a move for change.
December 1st 1955 was the day she got onto a bus in Montgomery Alabama, she was going home after work. She sat down; this in its self wouldn't have caused a problem if she hadn't been black. People were segregated by law in some states in America in those days. Black and white people could not mix freely in public places. When Rosa Parks was asked by the driver if she was going to stand up because a white man had demanded her seat she refused. The driver's reply was "I'm going to have you arrested". Her answer was "You may do that". For she was tired, she was tired of being treated like a second class citizen, she had enough and she now felt she should stand up for what she believed was right, she was going to take her chance whatever the consequences of her action might be. The man who wanted her seat wasn't ill if he had been ill, old, a pregnant woman or even a child, then I suspect she would have been willing to give up her seat. But the only difference between her and the man was the colour of their skin. It could be referred to as a brave stance but whether she thought it was brave at the time or later I don't know. She was however determined to fight for what was right.
Her arrest and subsequent trial brought about a boycott on December 5th 1955 of the Montgomery buses, this lasted three hundred and eighty one days. It was arranged by a Baptist Minster Martin Luther King, who was at that time unheard of although he would later become famous for speaking out against racism. In November 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on transport was illegal. Nine years later the civil rights act came into place and put a stop to segregation.
Rosa Parks died in October 2005 at the age of ninety - two; having proved that a little thing can make a difference it can have a domino effect. She also showed how important it is to stand up for what is morally right. The politician Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) once said "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Rosa Parks thought of her mother and grandparents and their strength. She also saw the opportunity that she could do something, it was what she had always asked of other people and she wasn't going to do nothing.

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Rosa Parks Rosa Parks was the woman who would change history in America by a single act of will, what she did would bring about a move for change. December 1st 1955 was the day she got onto a bus in Montgomery Alabama, she was going home after work. She sat down; this in its self wouldn't have caused a problem if she hadn't been black. People were segregated by law in some states in America in those days. Black and white people could not mix freely in public places. When Rosa Parks was asked by the driver if she was going to stand up because a white man had demanded her seat she refused. The driver's reply was "I'm going to have you arrested". Her answer was "You may do that". For she was tired, she was tired of being treated like a second class citizen, she had enough and she now felt she should stand up for what she believed was right, she was going to take her chance whatever the consequences of her action might be. The man who wanted her seat wasn't ill if he had been ill, old, a pregnant woman or even a child, then I suspect she would have been willing to give up her seat. But the only difference between her and the man was the colour of their skin. It could be referred to as a brave stance but whether she thought it was brave at the time or later I don't know. She was however determined to fight for what was right. Her arrest and subsequent trial brought about a boycott on December 5th 1955 of the Montgomery buses, this lasted three hundred and eighty one days. It was arranged by a Baptist Minster Martin Luther King, who was at that time unheard of although he would later become famous for speaking out against racism. In November 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on transport was illegal. Nine years later the civil rights act came into place and put a stop to segregation. Rosa Parks died in October 2005 at the age of ninety - two; having proved that a little thing can make a difference it can have a domino effect. She also showed how important it is to stand up for what is morally right. The politician Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) once said "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Rosa Parks thought of her mother and grandparents and their strength. She also saw the opportunity that she could do something, it was what she had always asked of other people and she wasn't going to do nothing. © Children's Web Magazine 2006
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