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Ih February 1956,Rosa Parks wasarrested a secondtime, for her role inthe Montgomerybus boycott.

The Mother of a MovementRosa Parks, a heroin the struggle forequal rights, wasborn 100 years ago

'words to Know*"defiance (dih-FYE-uhnss) noun, arefusal to follow rules or directions

boycott (BOI-kot) noun, a type ofprotest in which people refuse touse a service or buy a product

On December 1, 1955, ablack woman namedRosa Parks took astand that would

change the nation. She wasarrested while riding a city bus inMontgomery, Alabama. Thecharge: Refusing to give up herseat to a white man. Her defiancehelped spark the civil rightsmovement, when African-Americans and others worked togain equal rights.

Born on February 4,1913,Rosa Parks would have turned100 this year. Parks died in 2005,but her legacy lives on.

Taking a StandOn the day she was arrested.

Parks was riding a city bus homefrom her job at a departmentstore. She was sitting in the fifthrow, with three other blackpassengers. After a few stops, thefirst four rows filled up, and a

The End ofSegregationBy refusing to give up her seat,Rosa Parks heiped bring an end tosegregation on buses. Here's a iookat iiow African-Americans gainedequality in other areas of society.

M i l i t a r y America's first group of blackmilitary pilots formed in Tuskegee, Alabama,in 1941. At the time, military units weresegregated. But the Tuskegee Airmen flewwith honor during World War II ^

(1941-1945) and received manyawards for their skill and bravery. In1948, President Harry S.Truman Ç _ .

signed an order that would endsegregation in the U.S. military.

4 SCHOLASTIC NEWS EDITION 5/6 • FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • WWW.SCholaSt¡C.COm/sn56

white man was left standing. Thedriver ordered Parks and theother riders in her row to give uptheir seats. The others obeyed,but Parks refused to move. Thedriver called the police, who tookher away in a squad car.

By refusing to give up her seat.Parks had broken the law. At thattime, many states and cities inthe South had laws requiringsegregation—the separation ofpeople based on race. In manyplaces, black people weren'tallowed to attend the sameschools or eat at the samerestaurants as white people. Onbuses, they couldn't sit in thesame section as whites.

Parks challenged the unjustlaw. "A lot of other people didn'tdisobey the rules because theydidn't want to get into trouble,"she once told Scholastic readersin an interview. "I was willing toget arrested—it was worth theconsequences."

S c h o o l s in 1954, the U.S.Supreme Court ruled that segregatedschools were illegal. But manySouthern schools ignored the ruling.On September 25,1957, nine blackstudents entered all-white CentralHigh School in Little Rock, Arkansas.U.S. troops had to escort thestudents to protect them from Mangry mobs. %

Power of the PeopleParks spent only a few hours in

jail, but she was later foundguilty by the city court. Theleaders of Montgomery's blackcommunity used her arrest tochallenge the segregation laws.

They organized a boycott ofcity buses. Huge numbers ofblack people would stop ridingbuses to protest segregatedseating. A young minister namedMartin Luther King Jr. waschosen to lead the boycott.

Beginning December 5,thousands of black peoplewalked, took cabs, or carpooledinstead of riding the bus. Theboycott drew the attention ofpeople nationwide.

Not long after the boycottbegan. Parks lost her job andstarted receiving death threats.But she was determined tosupport the cause. "I never hadany desire to give up," she said inthe Scholastic interview.

A Long Road to VictoryAs the boycott wore on, Parks's

lawyers fought her case in court.They argued that segregation onbuses violated the Constitution.The case went all the way tothe U.S. Supreme Court. OnNovember 13, 1956, the Courtbanned segregation on publicbuses. African-Americans werefree to sit wherever they wanted.The Montgomery bus boycottfinally ended after 381 days.

Rosa Parks is often called tbe"Mother ofthe Civil RightsMovement." By taking a stand,she inspired others to protestunjust laws. When she died in2005, thousands of mournerslined up to pay tribute to anational hero. In a 1987 interviewwith PBS, Parks said, "I'd like tobe remembered as a person whowanted to be free and wantedother people to be also free."

—Laura Modigliani

'Montgomery

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R e s t a u r a n t s On February 1,1960, four blackcollege students in Greensboro, North Carolina, sat at a"whites-only" lunch counter and refused to leave. Thistype of nonviolent jprotest, called a sit-in,caught on across the iSouth, and helpedend segregation atlunch counters and in •

'•—- restaurants.

www.scholastic.com/snSe SCHOLASTIC NEWS EDITION 5/6 • FEBRUARY 4, 2013 5

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