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Rosa Parks in the Civil Rights Movement

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“I’d just like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be also free” (Modigliani). The words Rosa Parks used to describe her ultimate hopes for the legacy she would leave behind are simple yet powerful. The fight for Civil Rights during the 1950s and 60s was hard fought, though the results were long overdue. Rosa Parks, like many others, experienced discrimination for much of her life, however when she acted against it the nation listened; she had initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks influenced the Civil Rights movement by working to peacefully achieve equality. This peaceful approach would prove to be successful, as the work and influence she had would be key in the outcome of the Civil Rights movement.

The affects of segregation and discrimination shape a person’s life. Rosa experienced the harsh reality of unfair treatment for African Americans at a young age; these experiences are likely those that shaped her attitude about the treatment of others, and the rights everyone should be granted living in a free country (SV; SV). Rosa’s family was strong in their beliefs that they should have the same opportunities as whites. Her grandfather deeply affected her opinion about equality. He often made comments like, “The one thing he wanted most of all was for none of his children or anyone related to him to ever have to cook or clean for whites” (Dubovoy 89).

Rosa’s childhood, like all childhoods at the time, was directly affected by racial discrimination. She was forced to attend an old, one room school because she wasn’t allowed into the new white school near her home. After she completed her elementary school years she was accepted into the Montgomery Industrial School for G...

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...ights of past and future African American citizens. Her peaceful impact is a reminder that change isn’t always the result of a violent fight, but sometimes simply the act of standing your ground. While punishment may be immediate, Rosa is an example that justice will always prevail.

Works Cited

“A White Preacher’s Memoir: The Montgomery Bus Boycott.” Journal of Blacks in

Higher Education. 31 Jan. 2000: 132. eLibrary. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

Dubovoy, Sina. Civil Rights Leaders. New York: Facts on File, 1997. Print.

Meyer, Ziati. “Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat.” Detroit Free Press; Detroit,

Mich., 01 Dec. 2013: A14. eLibrary. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

Modigliani, Laura. “The Mother of a Movement.” Scholastic News (Edition 5/6). 04 Feb.

2013: 4. eLibrary. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.

“Rosa Parks.” American Social Leaders. 2001. eLibrary. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
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