Racism and Segregation in the United States

Racism and segregation were two major issues in the United States around the 1950s. Many important people and events from then changed life for everyone in the present. The Civil Rights movement began promptly around December of 1955. Before the Civil Rights movement had started, there was a separation of colored people from white people. For a few years, colored people took the unfair treatment and got put down. They were seen as inferiors just because their skin tones were a few shades darker than the skin tone of a white person.

One very important female during this time was Rosa Parks. In a way, it could be said that Rosa Parks started the movement. On December 1st, 1955, after working as a seamstress, she got on the bus. Busses had seats for white people and a space for colored people in the back. Montgomery bus drivers would make colored people give up their seats for white people. Rosa Parks was sitting down and when the bus driver realized there were white passengers standing up. He tried to get four people to get up, three listened, but Rosa Parks refused. "The driver demanded, 'Why don't you stand up?' to which Rosa replied, 'I don't think I should have to stand up.' The driver called the police and had her arrested. Later, she recalled that her refusal wasn't because she was physically tired, but that she was tired of giving in." This event changed a lot of things. It started the Montgomery Bus Boycott. People were angered by Rosa Parks' arrest. It was a huge success. Just about every colored person walked, took a cab, or carpooled to get to places. The boycott lasted about 382 days. With no choice, Montgomery had to remove their segregation rules on busses in 1956. Another important figure was Martin Luther King Jr. Famous for his "I have a dream," speech, he played a great part in putting end to segregation. He helped end legal segregation in many parts of the United States and launched the bus boycott. "On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank." He gave speeches and protested wherever there was injustice. He was the leader of the march in Washington D.C. He delivered his "I have a dream," speech there in front of 250,000 people. But, the peaceful protester was assassinated on April 4th, 1968, right before leading another march. Although there were other important figures during this time, two of the best known were Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.

Rosa Parks' refusal to stand up for a white man on the bus and the Montgomery Bus Boycott started the Civil Rights Movement. The reason why Rosa Parks reacted this was simple.