To the woman who made a stand by simply staying seated in her bus seat. The book that I decided to read was “Who Was Rosa Parks?”. I can remember studying her when I was a child, but because of my lack of maturity I did not feel the need to really pay attention. After taking this class, and growing up, I have learned the importance of our history, and how it has shaped individuals into who they are today. Rosa Parks plays a crucial role in why segregation ended, and she changed the quality of life for many black people.
Let’s take is back about a hundred years ago to, a little town, Pine Level. This was a town in Alabama that was just outside of Montgomery. A girl was born by the name of Rosa Louise McCauley. Pine Level was a racist town, in which white and black people lived totally separate lives. There was no sharing restaurants, drinking fountains, or public swimming pools. The children grew up going to separate schools, and the white people wanted no association with black people.
Rosa grew up accustomed to the racism due to how rampant it was. At this time, the Ku Klux Klan was burning black people’s homes, churches, and doing all the damage that they could. Rosa’s grandfather would stand at his door with a shot gun when they would walk by their house to protect his house and family. Rosa would often times sleep by her grandfather while he guarded the house at night. The current life that they were living was an advancement for Rosa’s family because they have previously been slaves. Her family was grateful to be free, but still longed for something more. They knew that this was not how it was supposed to be, and that blacks and whites should be total equal.
When Rosa was eleven she moved to live with relatives in Montgomery, AL. Her mother did this to have Rosa enrolled in a better school system, and to try and improve Rosa’s quality of life. The school that Rosa went to was called Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. It was started by white women from the north. They had one goal in starting the school, and it was to help educate poor black women. Rosa ended up thriving in this school, and becoming close to the woman who ran the school. Her name was Alice White. Amongst all the knowledge that Rosa gained from this woman, it was from this lady that Rosa learned self-respect. The school ended up getting burned down multiple times by the Ku Klux Klan, and eventually was closed.
Due to family problems, Rosa ended up dropping out of school to take care of her family. These days taking care of sick elders in her family were long and hard. She relied on the Lord for strength and guidance. She was cleaning white people’s homes, and just trying to make ends meet. At this point Rosa is about 18, so she spent a lot of her free time in the church, and it brought her the most joy.
In the midst of caring for her family and spending time in church, she was introduced to an educated black man named Raymond Parks. Raymond and Rosa hit it off from the very beginning, and were engaged in no time at all. He was a very educated man, and was involved in civil rights. He knew that Rosa had a passion for education and learning so he encouraged her to go back to school. She went back to school and became one of the few black women to have a high school diploma.
Rosa had problems finding jobs that pushed her. She was hired to work at a military base, and had to ride the bus to and from work. The bus that she rode on had multiple sections on it. The section toward the front being for the driver, and where the front door was located. The second section was for white people. The third section was for black and white people. Although it was for black and white people, black people had to move if a white individual wanted to sit on their row. The next section was the back door, this was the door that the black were encouraged to enter and exit from. The last section was for black people, and they were to stand if the seats were full. Something as simple as a bus seat may seem like something little, but it represented something so much bigger. Every time Rosa got on the bus she had to acknowledge that her worth, according to society, was not equal as whites. This sparked a passion to help her stand up for her worth. Not just her worth, but for all the black people in society that were treated poorly and less than.
On December 1st, 1955, everything changed. After work, Rosa Parks got on the bus, a little before five o’clock, and it was the same driver that she had had a previous encounter with. The driver’s name was Jim Blake. Rosa Parks was seated on his bus, and a white person got on board. The bus happened to be full, and the bus driver ordered Rosa to get up to let the white person have a seat. Her bus row was full, so the other two black people got up and went to the back. Rosa scooted to the window and refused to get up. Jim Blake called the police on her, and they took her to the police station. She was put in jail, and put on a bond. She decided to go on trial and plead guilty to get the higher officials to help her with her case. Ultimately, the only way to make a difference was for the higher officials to realize that bus segregation had to change.
In order to support Rosa Parks, on the day of her trial, the black community decided to boycott the public bus system on December 5th, 1955. They did this to show the bus systems that they need the black population in order for the bus systems to run. Buses went by empty, half full, and the streets were crowded. Lots of black people were fired from their jobs for participating in this boycott.
On November 13th, 1956 the Supreme Court said that the bus segregation was unconstitutional. After this happened, to make a statement, Rosa Parks got on Jim Blake’s bus and sat in the front. A picture was taken of her, and to this day is one of her most famous pictures. Martin Luther King gave his I have a dream speech, and the Civil Rights Act was signed which states that blacks and whites had to be treated equal. This changed the black community forever.
Some people thought she didn’t get up because she was tired and old, but this is what she said “No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” The story of Rosa Parks is one that shapes our history, and relates to several topics that we have been discussing. In class, one of the more pressing issues that we have been discussing is the issue of racism. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This being said, the story of Rosa Parks on the bus was strictly a race issue. She did not commit any crime, other than stay seated in her original seat.
Growing up, Rosa was constantly having to watch her back and defend herself. This situation can relate back to the movie that we watched called The Color of Fear. The Color of Fear was a movie based on people who had grown up in the culture minority. Being in the minority, you have to deal with issues that people in the of the majority do not have to deal with. People of the minority have to think every single thing through because if they do not, it could end poorly for them. For example some of these instances include hate crimes, segregation, and in the eyes of society not feeling of value. In Rosa’s life this plays a roll with the Ku Klux Klan burning down things of importance to the Parks, and also she mentions that as a child she often felt the burden of her skin color.
Police Brutality is a very important issue in todays culture. After reading the book on Rosa Parks, I have learned that it also was a problem back then as well. Police targeted black people, and treated the differently than white people. For my last Immersion Expeirence, I watched The Hate You Give, and my eyes were opened to a whole new light. I had always heard about police brutality, and seen it on the news but after watching that movie had a deeper level of understanding. After watching that movie, it seems that black people are targeted and are not even given a change. A officer ended up shooting when he felt threatened, which ended up he felt threatened by a hairbrush. The kids in the movie had to grow up defending their culture, and proving themselves to the police. Police brutality toward the black community is a very rampant issue, that seems to be like the present day version of bus segregation. People try to stand up for it, they rally for it, but nothing drastic seems to happen.
Although my life and Rosa’s life are vastly different, there are a few similarities between us. For one, Rosa Park’s faith played a huge role in her life. She was very involved in her church, and relied on the Lord when times were tough. There were plenty of times when she felt unworthy, and it seemed like her world was falling apart at her fingertips, but the Lord was so faithful. I think that this helped with her confidence because ultimately she knew that her identity was in something that was so much greater than herself. Rosa Parks was also very concerned with children, and helping them further their education. More than their education, she was very concerned with their well-being. She went to the capacity of “breaking the law”, to help the improve the quality of life for people in the black community. I am taking these classes to further my education on how I can help students further their education. I am very passionate about all children being educated, and having a opportunity to better their lives. Rosa displayed this in her life by furthering her education after she had dropped out. It ended up that she never had to privilege to teach children in the classroom, yet she indirectly changed lots of children’s lives.
Throughout Rosa’s life, she had lots of extra hurdles to jump through due to the fact that she was African American. When it came to vote, get a job, or go to school it was never an easy task. She grew up in a time period when it was looked down upon to be black, and they were deemed not as important as white folk. Rosa also grew up constantly having to watch out for herself, and her family. I could not imagine sleeping by the door of my home while my grandfather guarded it with a shot gun. She had to see things that no child should ever have to see. She also grew up having to work, and help her family make ends meet. I have blessed in the fact that I have never had to work, or feel the need to help provide or my family. My parents have worked hard to create a business, and they do not expect us to contribute yet. Rosa Parks was also a woman who was confident in what she believed in, and was willing to do whatever it took to have equal rights. I am very passive when it comes to issues of race and gender, but Rosa Parks was a woman who knew what the black community deserved and that was equality.