Most of us know Rosa Parks as the African American woman who quietly , but firm , refused to give up her bus bum to a blank person Dec. 1 , 1955 , in Montgomery , Alabama . That small number of resistance sparked the yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott which , in turn , kickstarted nationalefforts to terminate racial segregationin the U.S.
But Rosa Parks is much more than that . " Most Americans are only intimate with the upshot that fall out on Dec. 1 , 1955 , " says David Canton , companion prof of history and director of the Africana Studies Program at Connecticut College . " However , Rosa Parks was an activist years before the Montgomery Bus Boycott and years after . "
Here are four fact and four myth about Parks that will help oneself you better understand this important historical figure .
Fact: Parks Came From a Family of Activists
Parks was have Feb. 4 , 1913 , to James and Leona McCauley . The couple separated two years later , and Parks ' mother move the sept to her parents ' farm in Pine Level , Alabama . Parks ' grandparent , Rose and Sylvester Edwards , were formerly enslaved persons who strongly consider in racial equality . One of Parks ' former computer memory was of her grandfatherstanding guard with his shotgunas the Ku Klux Klan butt on down their street . In 1932 , when she was 19 , Rosa McCauley married Raymond Parks , an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) .
Myth: Her Only Activism Was Refusing to Give up Her Bus Seat
Parks begin hercivil rights activismshortly after graduating from high school day , and continued until shortly before her end in 2005 at age 92 . She served for year as secretary to the president of the NAACP ’s Montgomery chapter . Parks also worked on issues such as voter readjustment , integration of schools and public spaces , and justice for Black victim of snowy barbarism . In addition , she participate in legion major polite rights effect such as the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma - to - Montgomery March . Parks was also an activist for women ’s rights and stop the Vietnam War . At one time she swear out on the panel ofPlanned Parenthood .
Fact: She’d Previously Had a Run-in With the Same Bus Driver
Twelve years before Parks reject to give up her bus rear end , she boarded a motorbus drive byJames E. Blake . Blake often made derogatory remark to African Americans , especially women . He also made Blacks get off his bus after paying , then re - board in the rear . Sometimes , he ’d drive out before they get back on . When Parks board Blake ’s bus in 1943 , he tried to make Parks re - board after paying . She refused , and he tried to push her off the bus . After that , Parks avoid Blake ’s bus no matter what . But on the fateful 24-hour interval , she did n’t notice Blake was the driver when she stepped on board .
Myth: On Dec. 1, 1955, She Sat in the Whites-only Section
In 1955 , Montgomery ’s buses had 36 seat . The first 10 were for whites , the midway 16 were first - occur , first - serve ( with priority given to white ) and the last 10 were for Blacks . Parks sat down in thefirst rowing of the middle surgical incision , next to a black-market man . Two dim women sit across the gangway . The other Blacks got up when Blake told them to . Parks , of course of action , did not .
Fact: Parks Wasn’t the First African American in Montgomery to Refuse to Give Up Her Bus Seat
Several months before Parks refused to give up her seat , 15 - year - oldClaudette Colvin did the same thing . But unlike Parks , Colvin made a scene and was physically remove by police force officer . Some say Parks ' refusal ignited the boycott , and not Colvin ’s , because Parks was calm , cultivated and an older woman , which made her a more sympathetic anatomy . However , it was Colvin , not Parks , who was part of the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of bus segregation in Montgomery .
Myth: She Remained Seated Because She Was Tired
Parks did not refuse to give up her jitney seat because her foot injure . " I was not hackneyed physically , " shewrote in her autobiography , " or no more tired than I usually was at the final stage of a figure out day . I was not old , although some people have an image of me as being old then . I was forty - two . No , the only tired I was , was tired of render in . "
Fact: Parks Was Jailed a Second Time, Two Months Later
With the Montgomery Bus Boycott going hard , Parks was helping put carpool rides to citizenry who refused to ride the buses . But on Feb. 21 , 1956 , a deluxe jury indicted Parks and others for ravish an Alabama natural law forbid organized boycotts . Once again , Parks was turn back and jailed . The Montgomery Bus Boycott last 381 day and ended when the Supreme Court said segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional .
Myth: Once the Boycott Was Over, Americans Embraced Parks
Although the boycott was a success , it threw Rosa and Raymond Parks ' life sentence into turmoil . Montgomery Fair department memory board , where Parks worked as a seamstress , fired her . Raymond was also fired from his caper after his foreman said he could n’t talk about Rosa or the boycott at work . The couple , who had received threatening telephone set calls , death threats and hate mail during the boycott , retain to experience them for years after . In 1957 , after neither could find steady employment in Montgomery , they joined Rosa ’s chum and cousins in Detroit , take along her mother , Leona .
" clean supremacists forced Rosa Parks to leave Alabama and relocate to Detroit , " allege Canton . But even in Detroit , Parks had trouble finding oeuvre . at last , in 1965 , she was hired as an administrative helper for Congressman John Conyers Jr. , a position she held until her 1985 retreat . Parks died in 2005 and her organic structure rest in honour at the U.S. Capitol rotunda , the first womanto have that distinction .
Rosa Parks FAQ
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