Rosa Parks and Fight for Social Injustices

The fight for social injustices we have in our society has been a long battle. One of the longest battles against the injustices in our society is the battle for civil rights. In the early, to mid-1900s there was an uprise from African-Americans. Many people rose to lead their people in the fight. Leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Derrick Bell. These men were very influential yet they had very different ways of fighting for civil rights.

The battle for equal rights amongst American citizens has been a long and lengthy process.

Some fought for equal rights and some did not. The fact of the matter is America wouldn’t be the country it is without both parties. Those who fought for equality probably would not have had the stamina to fight without the people that we’re fighting against them. You can’t fight someone if they are not willing to get in the ring with you. Dr. Martin Luther King jr was very much willing to get in the ring and fight for what he believed inequality. King fought for a peaceful integration between whites and blacks. He fought to have open conversations about equality. People that were opposed to the thought of equality fought King’s integration approach in nonpeaceful ways despite King’s peacefulness. The state that America was in was a very close-minded state they saw nothing wrong with the way they were living and the hatred they were giving. King stressed non-violent protest if he was going to fight for equality he couldn’t fight fire with fire. Dr.King met with high-up officials to resolve an issue that had been going on for way too long. He met with people such as the President of the United States at the time Lyndon B. Johnson, Rosa Parks, and other officials on Capitol Hill to figure out a plan for integration. King believed that the weapon of love was the strongest weapon of all time.

Rosa Parks- In 1955, Rosa Parks silently retaliated against the white oppressors by literally just sitting down in the front area of a bus. She was a Civil Rights Activist during the Civil Rights Movement. The 42-year-old Rosa Parks, after a hard day of work as a seamstress (one who sews for a living), decided to sit in the ‘Whites-only’ area, several seats in front of the colored people area. During 1955 racial segregation was extremely rampant (especially in Alabama), and everything had its own ‘whites’ and ‘colored’ areas so the white people wouldn’t have to sit next to the colored people. Usually, when the seats of the bus began to be crowded, the minorities had to give up their seats to the whites. She was just a tired old woman who wanted to sit down when James Blake (the bus driver) ordered her and 3 other black people to move. The other three accepted while Parks did not. She was then fined $10 (equivalent to $95 today) and also arrested which was a big mistake on the white’s part because the backlash of that from the black community was astronomical. This arrest was the true beginning of the end of racial segregation within the united states. Today she is seen as a role model for the black community; standing for the rights and freedom of the black community.

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