Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Crusader

Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man.  That simple action ignited a national controversy, including a bus boycott, and eventually resulted in a court ruling that said segregated seating was unconstitutional.

Rosa, returning home from a long day of work at a Montgomery, Alabama, department store, was seated on December 1, 1955 in the first row of the “black section” of a bus.  The first ten rows were reserved were whites and blacks sat in the back of the bus.  However, the tacit understanding was that no black persons should remain sitting if a white person was standing.

When the first ten rows of “white” seats were filled up, a white man was left standing in the aisle.  The bus driver yelled to the back of the bus for all four blacks in the first row of the “black section” to get up so the lone white man could have the row.

Rosa refused and the driver called the police.

Rosa’s courageous action had a profound effect on the Civil Rights Movement, but resulted in personal hardship for her and her family.  Both she and her husband lost their jobs and had to move to a new area and many personal threats were made on their lives.

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