Why Is Civil Disobedience Important To Social Change

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, one of the leaders of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] refused to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, despite being reprimanded by the driver (Schulke 166). Montgomery, Alabama was known for its terrible treatment of blacks. The buses in particular had been a source of tension between the city and black citizens for many years (Schulke, 167). As a result of refusing to give up her seat, Rosa Parks was arrested. Rosa Parks' popularity among the black community, proved to be the spark that ignited the non-violent Civil Rights Movement (Norrell 2).

Little did Rosa know that a simple act of courage would change the course of American history. That day she was arrested for violating Montgomery's transportation laws and took her to jail. She was soon released on a one-hundred dollar bail. A trial was scheduled for December 5, 1955. Her arrest brought a protest of seven thousand blacks in her community. Her community was small but every African American member of her town was sure to be protesting for her release that day. This protest rapidly started the creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association. The most involved and determined person besides Parks in this movement was Martin Luther King Jr. would call for a one-day bus boycott which ended up extending after Rosa was found guilty. Rosa was fined ten dollars. Rosa once again refused to pay any money and appealed her case. Rosa Parks and her husband both lost their jobs and were harassed and ridiculed for what happened on the bus. Most whites would say she made a fool out of herself and she embarrassed

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

The Montgomery Bus Boycott began with the public arrest of an African American woman and civil rights activist named Rosa Parks. As stated in Document A,”Rosa Parks boarded a city bus and sat down in the closest seat. It was one of the first rows of the section where blacks were not supposed to sit… The bus driver told Rosa Parks that she would have to give up her seat to a white person. She refused and was arrested.” Rosa’s arrest sparked a number of radical events that fought against racial inequality and segregation over the span of thirteen months. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful because it led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation among public transportation (especially buses) was unconstitutional. The Montgomery

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began with the remarkable effort to attack and dismiss the principle of separate but equal (Piven and Cloward 1979, p. 207). Credited to the aftermath of the effort, Frances Fox Piven denoted, “Protest had become possible; victories had become possible” (Piven and Cloward 1979, p.208). The significance is laying the groundwork to reject any type of possible segregation in the future, making equality in society tangible rather than abstract. The civil rights movement later went to display tactics more in the public grounds, on highly influential boycotts. Rosa Park’s arrest sparked the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955, a large scale boycott led by Martin Luther King (Piven and Cloward 1979, p. 209). The successful Montgomery boycott was then followed by the similarly successful Tallahassee boycott of 1956 (Piven and Cloward 1979, p. 212). Both successful boycott demonstrated the expansion of power that the movement needed to gain political influence. The wide variety of actions by the protest groups ignited the success of the civil rights

On December 1, 1955, Ms. Parks was traveling on the bus after a long day of work when the driver of that bus asked her to give her seat to a white passenger. Parks’ unwillingness to give up her seat did land her in jail. After a few hours being in jail, Parks’ was allowed to leave with a bond. That was when the African American people started to boycott Montgomery's bus to protest her unfair arrest. The month they started the movement was winter, which made it hard on the people having to walk every day to work. However, it was not just the people going through some hardened time because the bus company did experience

In this essay, the significance of Rosa Park’s involvement in the Montgomery bus boycott will be discussed. The questions of how important the incident was at the time, the impact it had at the time and how it helped shape the way civil rights are today will be addressed. During the time of the bus boycott, segregation was a common and accepted concept, for black people to challenge this concept of segregation was unheard of and controversial. At the time the segregation was not only on buses but also were they ate, drank, shopped any everywhere in everyday life. For this to be challenged was extremely difficult because it was a part of the established culture.

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.

As Rosa Parks rested herself on the front of a bus, a white male approached and ask if she could remove herself so he can take her seat. Rosa Parks declined for she had a long day and was tired. The man immediately noticed how reluctant she was and called the police to report that a woman is violating the segregation laws. As Rosa Parks was tired of being treated at a second class American she took matters into her own hands and peacefully started encouraging other to boycott public transportation. Many African Americans started walking, bicycling and riding mules to work. As the bus boycott continued the company started to lose business, realizing that 75% of their income comes from African Americans. The company also made threats to anyone involved in the boycott but Rosa Parks mentioned they will continue with the protest without violence no matter how provoked they may become. Ms. Parks soon took her situation to the Supreme Court saying the law for blacks to sit in the back of the bus was unconstitutional and unjust. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor and was declared unconstitutional on November 13, 1956. Rosa Parks proved that doing the right action will lead to the right

On December 1, 1955, Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Park was seating in the front row on a bus on her way home. During that time, African American was not allow to sit in front of the bus they had to sit in the back were the signs says “ for Colored Only.” The driver James F. Blake order Rosa Parks and three other African American to move to the back of the bus, but Rosa Parks refuse to move to the back of the bus. She said “I had felt for a long time that if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so.” When she refuses to give up her seat she was arrest and fine ($10) ten dollar plus ($4) four dollar court cost. Rose Parks was not first African American to

On December 1, 1955, a brave woman we all know by the name of Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. She was arrested and fined. The boycott of public buses by blacks in Montgomery began on the day of Parks’ court hearing and lasted 381 days. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system, and one of the leaders of the boycott, a young pastor named Martin Luther King Jr., emerged as a prominent

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, which ultimately became the cause of her arrest that same year. At the time, only white individuals could have the seats towards the front of the bus because many public means were segregated. This lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was a civil rights protest against racial segregation on public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama. As stated by Clayborne Carson, the director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project and Professor of History at Stanford University, “the Montgomery bus boycott should be understood as the outgrowth of a long history of activism by people from different educational backgrounds and economic classes” (Carson 13). The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of the key examples of protests that led to a series of change in the nation afterward regarding the rights of African American citizens.

The human race doesn’t take injustice lying down. Over the past hundred years, there has been many examples of people taking a stand for their own rights and freedoms through acts of civil disobedience, defined as “the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest”. While a quick glance at today’s society does show a much more accepting and proper view of people of every race, religion and sexuality, our world does not come without its injustices. I believe that these major injustices keep civil disobedience extremely relevant in our current, modern world.

Civilization has, from its genesis, been plagued with intolerable issues, ranging from racial discrimination to breaches of privacy. In the face of such issues has arisen the threat of violence countless times over. However, as we’ve progressed as a race, we have moved from violence and have resorted instead to civil disobedience, a peaceful form of protest in which one refuses to comply with the law and accepts all consequences. A practitioner of civil disobedience is one who will state their cause openly, commit their “crime” peacefully, and go to jail for it in protest. Civil disobedience is inherently good because it holds government accountable for its wrongdoings, calls attention to injustices civilians may not even know about, and expresses

From the time we are children and throughout the duration of our lives, we are told to abide by certain sets of rules. In most situations this is a perfectly acceptable expectation; speed limits, remaining quiet in libraries, and waiting until the age of twenty-one to drink are all reasonable things to ask of people. After all, these rules and laws are put in place to ensure a peaceful and safe society. However, when these rules begin to infringe upon the rights of certain groups, some citizens turn to civil disobedience as a form of protest. While some may argue that civil disobedience is nothing more than a violation of the law, it has also proven to have a positive impact on society, in more ways than one. Used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin