Assignment Requirements
Write a short essay answering one of the following question about Rosa Parks’ memoir Rosa Parks: My Story:
In 1955, Rosa Parks defied law and custom to overturn segregation in Montgomery bus system. Her act of refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger is said to have begun the direct action civil rights movement of 1950’s and 1960’s.
Yet for decades preceding Ms.Parks’ brave act, year after year, all across the south, African Americans defied segregation laws on buses and trains and were arrested and jailed for this. And no movement arose to protest this.
Was there more to starting the Civil Rights Movement than Parks’ individual act of defiance? Based on evidence from Rosa Parks:My Story, argue the relative importance of Parks’ refusal to give up her seat compared with other decisions and actions she and others took. Take a position on what was most important in starting the movement.
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