“Get up now!” a furious bus driver spits out at one of his passenger who is sitting there as still as a statue, despite the steaming driver leaning over her. She knew eventually the driver would kick her out of the seat that she got to first, so without saying anything she gets up and stands in the back. She remembered to keep her temper as she walked to the back and so she didn’t do anything to stop those snarls from the white people. She looked up from the ground when she reached the back of the bus. She saw all the whites in the front of the bus sitting on nice clean seats. She looked down again. She looked at her skin. She couldn’t hold it anymore, she kicked a rock in front of her, luckily, it didn’t got too far. It flew a few inches ahead. …show more content…
Do you know why? Because they had a different skin color. That's why! It is outrageous. They were separated into groups of black people and white people, which is very prejudice. The white people didn’t bother to see what type of people the black people were. They didn’t see if they were respectful or not, which isn’t fair because it wasn’t a choice for them to choose whether they wanted their skin color to be black or white. Yes, they would stay the color they were born to be. No magic is going to appear. Anyways, according to the laws from the past, buses were also separated into sections of whites and blacks. If the seats in the front of the bus (where the white people sat) were full they took the seats from the back of the bus (where the black people sat). Yes, black people had to give up their seats so that the white people could sit. In the text Heart and Soul The Story of America and African Americans, chapter 11, page 86, it stated “She took a seat at the front of the “colored” section of the bus. Now if you can believe this, when a white fellow got on the bus, the driver told her to get up and give her seat to him. Excuse me? Mrs. Parks said no.” This is a situation that happened on the bus with someone named Rosa Parks. Now, not everyone is brave enough to do what Rosa Parks did. Most black people would immediately obey, for they didn’t want to be thrown in jail. However, Rosa Parks wanted people to know that white folks can’t just boss white folks around. The black folks have to start standing up for themselves. Black people should have the right to stay where they are on a bus. They were there first. It is is unfair and injustice to the blacks. Her ignorance to the bus driver had an effect. Her ignorance caught Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. eyes and they led a peaceful
Since the creation of our country, African Americans have dealt with prejudice. They have faced many challenges and obstacles, such as segregation. After all of the slaves were emancipated, most public facilities participated in the separation of colored and white people. One of the facilities that was segregated, included the bus system. African Americans had to sit in the back of the bus and, when necessary, had to give up their seat to any white bus rider. Document 1 and 4 show the segregation in schools, which invigorated children and parents, because this made many African Americans students feel inferior. The conclusion of “separate but equal” did not seem to be working in the education system. Restaurants were also segregated. White males and females were given much better service, and restaurants were often separated. Another way African Americans faced inequality, was through the denial of constitutional rights. In many instances, African Americans guaranteed rights were taken away from them. For example the 14th Amendment was violated, which guarantees equal protection of the law and it forbids any state from making laws that
I read The Back of the Bus, by Mary Mebane. In this essay Mebane tells us about a real life situation that she witnessed as a young girl. The situation occurred in the 1940's, while segregation was almost at it's worst. Mebane talks about the tension between the people on the bus when a white man got on and there was only one seat left, next to a black man. During all the tension the bus driver tried to tell the black man to move but, as he did a black woman stood up fighting for the black man and his seat. The bus driver realized they were at the last stop and let the situation go, as if nothing happened. I believe that the black man shouldn't have had to move but for his sake, he should have moved so he wouldn't have had to face the harsh
Discrimination of the blacks was a dilemma without a care to be resolved. Separation of whites from the darker complected people is what caused rebellions and outrage throughout communities, throughout the nation. “Whites sit in the front, blacks sit in the back,” this is the main reason that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, which cause African Americans to boycott against the buses. You are black, you do not have the same rights as we do.” and out of fear, out of lack of courage, the African Americans obeyed their orders. Then one day, a man asked Rosa Parks to stand or head towards the rear of the bus so he may have a seat in the front where white men and women would sit. She refused to stand, and she did not move; she sat ignoring the commands of a “superior white male.” Rosa Parks began a movement after her actions got her arrested; known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This act of civil disobedience of a single female caught the attention of many, causing plenty to refuse to do as the signs announced, and causing many to walk to work rather than ride the bus. The blacks no longer felt obligated to listen to the signs and the laws which were bizarre yet politely rude. White people were not superior, and it was now that the African Americans were realizing they deserved equality.
Mrs. Parks entered the bus, paid her fare, and took a seat in the middle section of the bus. The back of the bus was deemed the "colored section", the front was considered the "white section", and the middle section was for either race, however if a white person needed a seat, the black person was expected to give up their seat immediately. The bus made three stops a white man entered the bus and needed a seat, the three other black got out of their seat immediately, but when the driver ordered Rosa to get up she firmly stated "no", Mrs. Parks once stated that "people always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired of giving in." According to "Rosa Parks", Mrs. Parks had meant to do no more than show one rude bus driver that blacks were being treated unfairly. She wasn't the first black to ever refuse to give up her seat, but her action had consequences. After she refused to give up her seat on the bus, the driver threatened to have her arrested, Mrs. Parks simply stated, "You may do that." The policemen clearly didn't want to arrest her, but law forced them to.
During the 1950's African Americans were technically equal in the eyes of the law, but not to most of the southern citizens. Segregation was a time of division between whites and African Americans in regards to bathrooms, public amenities, schools etc.&t all of the country was like this, the occupants ofnorthern America were open and not as racist towards African Americans. In 1955, African Americans obligated by Montgomery, Alabama, city ordinance to sit in the back city buses and to give up their seats to white people ifthe front half ofthe bus was full. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was going home from her job on the Cleveland Avenue bus. She was seated in
America was highly separated. The blacks ,or coloreds, had nastier restaurants, bathrooms , and etc… than the whites. The white side of everything was so much better than the coloreds people's stuff. Many blacks were fed up with being secondary and not having clean bathrooms and nicer restaurants. One of the many blacks fed up with it is Rosa Parks. Buses were separated by front and back. whites in the front blacks in the back. “ When the bus became crowded, the driver instructed Mrs. Parks and the three other seated in that row, and all african americans, to vacate their seats for the white passengers boarding. She argued that she was not in a seat reserved for whites. He (the bus driver) called the cops.” (An Act of Courage, The Arrest of Rosa Parks) She was arrested for defying a bus driver which was a crime in Montgomery, Alabama. She was apprehended and incarcerated for a short time. When she called her mom the first thing her mom asked was “Did They
As a few white passengers boarded the bus and the white sections were already full so the driver shouted back at four black people including Rosa Parks “Move y'all, I want those two seats”. As this demand was made by the driver 3 of the bus riders obeyed to what was shouted back, however Rosa Parks remained in her seat and was determined not to move. She was arrested following the bus drivers order and fined ten dollars. This, however small incited a great wave of bus boycotts which in Montgomery black people chose not to ride the bus for a period of 381 days. This still to date is known as the moment in which the civil rights movement started to gain headway. It was the will of one woman who decided it was time for black people to take a stand and from this point on Martin Luther King was assigned to take this boycott on. Although he was assigned to take this on people also felt as he was young, fresh and people had not formulated enough of an opinion of him, there was little room for him to be hated yet so he posed as the right figure to lead this. After the many days of boycotting the case of this transport issue in Alabama went to the Supreme Court. Here it was decided that segregation was declared as unconstitutional so segregation by law was no
On Thursday evening December 1, 1955, Rosa boards a Montgomery City Bus to go home after a long day working as a seamstress. She walks back to the section for blacks, and takes a seat. The law stated that they could sit there if no White people were standing. Rosa parks never liked segregation rules and has been fighting against them for more than ten years in the NAACP, but until then had never broke any of the unjust rules. As the bus stops at more places, more white people enter the bus, all the seats in the “White Only” section was filled and the bus driver orders Rosa’s row to move to the back of the bus, they all moved, accept Rosa. She was arrested and fined for violating a city regulation. This act of defiance began a movement that ended legal Segregation in America, and made her an inspiration to freedom devoted people everywhere.
Black Americans were second class citizens ensured by the structure of southern society pre-1955. The southern states had white only restaurants, white only rest zones in bus centers etc. Montgomery, Alabama, buses were segregated with specific areas on a bus reserved for white customers and other seats for black costumers. After a full days work, Rosa Parks got a bus home. The bus was “full” in the sense that all the seats for white Americans were in use. Parks was seated in a seat for Black Americans, a white man got on board and found that there were no open “white” seats. The bus
Public buses were segregated due to the Jim Crow Laws. Usually the African Americans had to perch in the rear section of the bus and allow the whites to sit in the front. The rule was that every white person had to have a seat, even if an African American had to give up his/her seat to the white. An instance where this did not happen is when a woman named Rosa Parks didn’t give her seat to a white male. This occurred in Montgomery, Alabama on city bus. She had just gotten
Ida B Wells-Barnett once said, “The matter came up for judicial investigation, but as might have been expected, the white people concluded it was unnecessary to wait the result of the investigation—that it was preferable to hang the incriminated first and try him afterward.” Before the civil rights movement happened, this kind of unfairness towards blacks was very common. The time period during and after the civil rights movement will be remembered in American history for a very long time. During this time black people had a very hard time. The reconstruction movement was to provide equality for black lives in the United States. There were many different things that happened to get equality for black lives. Including many marches,
From the start, racism was unquestionably incorrect. For example, Source A states,”After parks refused to move she was arrested and fined ten dollars.” Where she was supposed to move from , was her seat on the bus. Furthermore this shows that, Parks was arrested for refusing to move from where she sat, because she thought the fact blacks and whites have specific spots to be seated. This also shows, because Parks is black she was punished for not sitting in the back.
A long time ago, but not too long to make people start forgetting, segregation has taken place in the Unites States. It has been continued over many centuries, but still no black man and woman had the right to live peacefully. A majority of the black people were slaves, and it was common for white men to segregate them whenever they go and whatever they do. These times were the hardest time
Rosa parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man . I didnt find out untill it was all over the news and people was talking about it , so at this point i was thinking segergation is not acceptable . Thats when i started making speeches and started marching about segergation, and i also started boycotting . Many people loved what i did , but some people didnt like me at all , but them not liking me wasnt gone stop me from doing what i was doing . Because no african american should be afraid to come outside without thinking they are going to get shot or killed , its just like the white people was trying to take over , and thought they could do harm to us . i came outside i walked up on a group of white people holding up signs
“Jim Crow” laws dictated that a black person must surrender their seat to a white person if there were no other seats available, and stand at the back of the bus. In December 1955; Rosa Parks refused to do this, and was arrested and fined $10. Her friends and family, led by Martin Luther King (who would later become leader of the Civil Rights Movement), immediately started a twenty-four hour bus boycott in response, and found it so successful that it was decided they would continue until the bus company agreed to seat customers on a first-come basis. Many black people became involved with the boycott, and as black passengers made up 75% of the bus company’s business it proved to be enormously damaging. The boycott attracted more black people to the civil rights movement.