Rosa Parks Essay Example
Rosa Parks Essay Example

Rosa Parks Essay Example

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  • Pages: 8 (2052 words)
  • Published: October 6, 2017
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Even though you might not think Rosa Parks was a significant black woman and that she was just another black lady, she did a lot for African Americans, by helping blacks and whites unite. Through her courage of staying on that bus, she had proven a lot to the whites about blacks and what they are capable of doing. She not only changed history, but she also made a name for herself, because she stood up for herself and showed the whites we are all equal and should be treated and one kind. Rosa Parks had a humongous influence on the Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights movement as well.

On February 4, 1913, a little girl was born into the McCauley family in Tuskegee, Alabama. The name of this girl was Rosa McCauley; her name was later changed to a

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better-known name, Rosa Parks. Rosa had a little brother named Sylvester, who was born on August 20th in 1915. Her parents' names were Leona and James McCauley, and her grandparents' names were Grandma Rose and Grandfather Sylvester. Rojas's father was a carpenter, and he left the family when Rosa was five years old. Rojas's mother was a school teacher at her school. For the beginning of her school year, Rosa attended a local for blacks, Spring Hill Church School.

The white children started school earlier in the year than the blacks. The black children began school in October; this allowed the children to help their parents with the farm. The white children also got to ride the bus to school, while the black children had to walk to school. Rojas's tonsils were

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Infected as a child and throughout most of her teenage life, so this caused her to miss a lot of schools. During her fifth grade year, she missed so much school that she got held back. Spring Hill Church School, closed In due to there wasn't enough money to fund it, Rojas's mother lost her job there.

They found a school eight miles walking called sandy springs, but since Rojas's mom got hired as a teacher there; she had to move closer to the school, while Rosa and Sylvester stayed with their grandparent's, because they still had a farm to take care of, so they walked to school. After sixth grade, Rosa, her mother, and Sylvester move to Montgomery, Alabama because Rojas's school In Tuskegee ended at sixth grade and Rojas's mother wanted her to have more education. During their stay, they lived with her aunt and cousins, for a short time. Rosa went to a private school called Montgomery Industrial school for girls, also known as Mrs. White's School.

Mrs. White was the principal of the school. At first, Rojas's mother paid for Rosa to go, but in a while, Rosa started paying herself by dusting, sweeping, emitting wastebasket, and washing blackboards. All the teachers at Rojas's school were white (Rosa Parks young rebel, Kathleen). Rosa met Raymond Parks at church on the evening when her friend, who at the time was trying to find a man for Rosa, introduced them. Once they met Raymond wanted to take her on a date but Rosa was not a fan of this idea. One day Raymond even went to Rojas's house and her mom let him

in. Finally, Rosa said yes to this persistent man.

Their first date was a car ride, after this date they fell In love and by their second date Raymond proposed. A few months later these lovebirds got married at their church. One day Rosa went on a bus ride coming home from work. This bus driver was really mean, and had a mole. After Rosa paid her ten cents to get In the bus she walked in through the front, which was not allowed for blacks and they go in through the back, but Rosa didn't move. The bus driver finally got up and started pulling Rosa off the bus, but Rosa purposely dropped her bag in the white section. Rosa slowly picked the bag up, and the bus driver got angry and kicked her UT.

Rosa didn't get arrested or pressed charges for this specific event. One day, Rosa was coming home in the summer from a school camp, which she left early because she missed home. She sat in the white section because it was empty at the time. A white man came and all the blacks got up, except Rosa. The same mean bus driver with a mole was driving that bus got up from his seat, was very angry, and told Rosa to leave. Rosa still didn't move. Finally, the bus driver got so angry that he called the police. All the people in the bus left with a rush, while calm Ramona, now scared of what would happen stayed in her seat.

The police finally came and took Rosa away, but she stayed as quiet as a mouse. When Rosa

got to Jail, she had asked the police for a drink of water. One policeman said yes, but right after that, the second policeman yelled no. She finally got to her cell, but she quickly got moved to another cell with two other women in it. She got permission to call her husband and she quickly reached for the phone. Her mother answered the phone sounding worried. After Rosa told Raymond what happened, Rojas's older friend and Raymond came to get her out.

Rojas's friend bailed her out, but it cost a lot of money. After Rojas's arrest, she lost her job at the Montgomery fair department. Raymond too also left his job, but he did it voluntarily. Rosa parks won awards for the noble deeds that she did. After the death of her husband in 1977, Rosa founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. The Institute sponsors an annual summer program for teenagers called Pathways to Freedom. The young people tour the country in buses, under adult supervision, learning the history of their country and of the civil rights movement.

President Clinton presented Rosa Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. She received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. (www.achievement.org). She won the Christian leadership council award, and she also won the Spanning medal in 1979 by the NAACP. Another honor she won was given, was being inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, in 1983. In September of 1992, Rosa Parks was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for her years of community service and lifelong commitment to social change through non-violent meaner and civil rights.

(www.reciprocates.com). In 1990, Rosa Parks had the honor of being part of the welcoming party for Nelson Mandela who had been coming back from being imprisoned in South Africa. Rosa parks also had a big influence on the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were laws that forbade intermarriages between whites and blacks. Owners/bosses had to keep whites and blacks separated. If someone was to go to the hospital, the nurses could not take care of the black men and vice versa. Buses and restaurants had separate seating and bathrooms were separated, too. The white prisoners had to have separate apartments for eating and sleeping from the black prisoners, and schools also had to be separated. At the cemeteries, the blacks could not be buried anywhere near where the whites were buried. After the bus incident occurred, people like Martin Luther King Jar., took charge. In one of her final interviews, she said, "I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism, hope and looking forward to a better there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you're happy, you have everything that you want, everything that you need, and nothing more to wish for. I haven't reached that stage yet."(www. Reciprocates. Com).

In 2004 Rosa was diagnosed with progressive dementia and died a year later on October 24, 2005. Three days after Rojas's death all the buses in Montgomery and Detroit reserved their rent seat with black ribbons in her honor. The ribbons remained there until Rojas's burial. (reciprocates.com). On October 29, 2005, her body was flown to Montgomery, and taken to

Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal Church, by a horse-drawn Cambridge. The same evening, her body was taken to Washington D. C., where a bus, similar to the bus she rode when she got arrested, took her to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

There were more than 50,000 people there to watch her memorial service. After D. C., she was taken back to Detroit to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History where her body stayed for two days. On November 2, 2005, Rojas's funeral service was held at the Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit. It lasted about seven hours before they brought the casket to the cemetery. The civil rights movement was a huge part of Rojas's life. Women organized in labor units were starting to request demands which were, better working conditions, equal pay, and to stop child labor.

Women colleges only started happening in the sass. The National Association of Colored Women was established in July of 1896. Some black women at the time believed that the best way to respond to racist and sexist attacks was through social-political activism. (prehistory.com). The organization's name was changed in 1957 to the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs. During world war one, soldiers that were black had to serve in separate units, away from the whites. After this event, the NAACP was formed.

NAACP, stands for, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which was founded on 12 February 1909. The NAACP was created by blacks and whites, not just blacks. When the great depression was still present, most of the blacks moved to urban centers, such as Detroit, New York, Chicago, and

Cleveland. Jobs became very hard to find for African Americans. Most of the Jobs available were found at railroads and factories. Rosa Parks was a daring black woman who helped start the Civil Rights Movement because, tried to help stop segregation, and help other black people as well.

Rosa parks said many things and did many things as well. "If I did stand up, it meant that I approved of the way I was being treated, and I did not approve," (news.investors.com). "I didn't think it was right for me to have to stand so someone else who got on later could sit down." "I could not have faced me or my people if I had moved. If I did not resist being mistreated, I would spend the rest of y life being mistreated." (www.news.investors.com). Rojas's even said once that she could not have done the things she did without her faith in God and knowing he was there.

Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. He and other African-American people felt a protest was needed. A meeting was called and an overflowing crowd came to the church to hear his words. King told the crowd that the only way they could fight back would be to stop using the bus company's bus that Rosa rode on. December 5, the African-American residents of the city refused to use the buses. King and the other African - Montgomery Improvement Association. They also elected King as its president. The Supreme Court took to end the boycott.

On November 13, 1956, the Court declared that Alabamans state and local laws requiring

segregation on buses were illegal. The next night the official boycott was called to an end, but citizens were asked to not ride the buses until the official mandate arrived. (www.holidays.net). Rosa Parks was indeed a humongous influence on not only blacks but also whites. Because of Rosa Parks, and a few others, blacks, and whites are now united. We sit together in uses, we share the same school, restaurant, and restrooms. Not only that, but now we have a strong relationship with one another.

We can thank Rosa Parks for what she did on the bus that day for triggering the whole boycott, and much more.

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