Rosa Parks : African American Civil Rights
Rosa Parks Changed the Rules
Webquest and Role playing
- Read this very short summary telling you why Rosa Parks became famous around the world.
Arrested for Not Giving up Her Bus Seat to a White Man
In 1955, a driver ordered Mrs. Parks to give up her seat to a white man. When she refused, she was arrested.
- Read the Bus worksheet and complete it
- Organise the classroom into a similar bus, then read the rules again and play the different parts here after : the bus driver, 6 white passengers, and 9 black passengers
- Now go here (http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/rosaparks/home.asp ) and there (http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/rosaparks/story.asp) (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/aframer/parks/ ) (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/alabama/ ), or read the document on the page handled to you, and fill in the grid.
| When did the it all take place?
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| Where did it happen?
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| Who was Rosa Parks?
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| What was her job?
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| Where was she going on the bus?
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| Where did she sit on the bus?
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| Why did she have to give her seat?
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| How many black people were asked to stand up?
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| Why did she refuse to give up her seat?
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| Black people did not have the same rights as white people : this is called…
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- Play the incident without speaking. You will use as many pictures representing black or white people as necessary
- Write the script for your play
- Play again, this time it will be a speaking show.
- Now answer these questions by looking at the sites again
What happened when she refused to give up her seat? Who took her to prison? How did she go out of prison? What happened the next Monday? Who organised the boycott? What is the NAACP? What did the boycott consist in ? How long did the boycott last? What happened in the end? How did Black people go to work during the boycott?
On Thursday evening December 1, 1955, after a long day of work as a seamstress for a Montgomery, (Alabama) department store, Rosa Parks boards a city bus to go home.
Tired as she is, Mrs. Parks walks past the first few — mostly empty — rows of seats marked "Whites Only." It's against the law for an African American like her to sit in these seats. She finally settles for a spot in the middle of the bus. Black people are allowed to sit in this section as long as no white person is standing. Though Rosa Parks hates the segregation* laws, and has been fighting for civil rights at the NAACP* for more than 10 years, until today she has never been one to break rules.
The bus continues along its route. After several more stops the bus is full. The driver notices that all the seats in the "Whites Only" section are now taken, and that more white people have just climbed aboard. He orders the people in Mrs. Parks 's row to move to the back of the bus, where there are no open seats. No one moves at first. But when the driver barks at the black passengers a second time, they all get up. . . except for Rosa Parks.
“ In the South, at that time, there was legally enforced segregation*. There were places black people couldn't go, and rights we did not have. A lot of people didn't disobey the rules because they didn't want to get into trouble.
The evening that I boarded the bus, I did not sit at the very front of the bus; I took a seat with a man who was next to the window -- the first seat that was allowed for "colored" people to sit in. At the third stop after I boarded the bus, a few white people boarded the bus, and one white man was left standing. When the driver noticed him standing, he told us to let the man have the seat. I said, "No, I will not." Then he said, "I'll have you arrested." So he didn't move the bus any further. Several black people left the bus.
Two policemen got on the bus in a couple of minutes. The driver told the police that I would not stand up. The policeman walked down and asked me why I didn't stand up, and I said I didn't think I should stand up. He said, "The law is the law and you are under arrest."
Upon hearing of Rosa Parks' s arrest, Mr. E.D. Nixon, a friend and civil rights leader, pays for her to get out of prison. Nixon believed that the Montgomery African-American community had to react.
Boycott
The next day, Friday, December 2, E.D. Nixon calls a meeting of black leaders to discuss how to fight bus segregation.
Knowing that the city bus system depends heavily on the African-American community, the black leaders agree to call a boycott of all city buses on Monday, December 5. A new and popular minister in Montgomery by the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. is chosen to lead the boycott.
On Monday morning, December 5, King and the other leaders wait nervously at a bus stop to see whether their plan will work. To their surprise, bus after bus rolls by with no African Americans aboard. United in protest, boycotters choose instead to walk, take cars together, pedal bicycles, and even ride mules to get to work.
That same day Rosa Parks goes to court with her lawyer. The judge finds her guilty of breaking a city segregation law and fines her $14. Declaring that the law is unjust, Rosa Parks's lawyer says he will appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dr. King's Speech
Inspired by the boycott's success, thousands of people gather in a Montgomery church on the evening of December 5 to listen to their new leader, Dr. King. King explains why the boycott must continue. "We are here this evening to say to those who have mistreated us for so long, that we are tired, tired of being segregated and humiliated." But above all, King asks that the protesters fight without violence.
The bus boycott continues. Slowly but surely the bus company begins to lose money — 75 percent of its riders are black and all have joined the boycott. But, the company doesn't change its segregation policies. Executives are convinced that the protesters will be back on the buses soon. To their surprise, African Americans find other means of transportation.
Because the protesters are now shopping closer to home, the white owners of downtown shops are starting to lose money. The protesters stay calm, resist using violence, and continue to follow the guidance of their leader, Dr. King. They will fight this battle using non violent tactics no matter how much they are provoked.
Nonviolence
One day, while Dr. King is at a church meeting, a bomb explodes at his home. No one has been hurt. But supporters are furious and ready to fight. King tells them not to fight. "We must meet violence with non violence."
Finally, almost one year after Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat, the Supreme Court rules — on November 13, 1956 — that Montgomery's segregation laws are unconstitutional.
The very next day, Rosa Parks, along with E.D. Nixon and Martin Luther King, Jr., board a city bus. Proudly, Rosa Parks takes a seat right up front.
Rosa Parks died last October 25th, she was born in February 1913.