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What I take from the story of Rosa Parks is that, sometimes standing up for what you believe in can be a risk, but it is important. Ensuring that people are treated with respect and fairness is imperative especially as a social worker. I used to think that being able to see past peoples skin color and race to treat everyone the same is what was meant by being anti-oppressive. I now realize that people’s race is a part of who they are as people, recognizing that everyone is unique and deserving of kindness. I think what Rosa wanted was to live in a world, where she was not looked down on for being a black woman, she wanted to have the same rights that were enjoyed by white people. I will always try to treat others with fairness and stand up for those who are oppressed. Below are two quotes from Parks that I thought were inspiring:

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right”.

“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free…so other people would also be free”.

(Quotes by Rosa parks collected from Simpson at We are the City)

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The tactics Rosa parks used to help the black community were a small part of a very large movement. The only unsuccessful part was that it did not ignite a change in the belief of white people to treat black people with equality right away. The Bus Ban lasted for 381 days, and during that time white police officers would write and make up traffic violation tickets for people aiding black people to and from work with their vehicle (Direr, 2006). As the ban went on and the civil rights movement persisted whites that believed in segregation resorted to violence. Unfortunately, hatred became a real part of activism for change, “the homes of Martin Luther King Jr., E.D. Nixon (former chair of NAACP), and Reverend Robert Graetz (a reverend of a predominately black church) were destroyed in a bombing” (Direr,2006, p. 90). The only unsuccessful parts of Parks’ activism would be that at times because of anger, it led to violence.

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Parks’s decision to not give up her seat firstly was a personal choice. She made the stand to say no when so many times had been forced to say yes to things that oppress her. She used courage firstly, which is more micro level but soon spread to a macro level. Commuting with out a racial impact became a large social issue, getting to and from work is just as important as housing, labour it is also a forefront of the way it can provide an advantage or disadvantage (Parks, 2018).

After her arrest, she then was approached by NAACP, to ask if they could use her case to be the forefront of a bus ban which would be used to challenge bus segregation laws in Montgomery. All the black community leaders spread word to stay off the buses that Monday, notices circulated to churches, schools, and workplaces. Even church leaders were asked to announce it in their Sunday sermons. A new black rights movement was formed, MIA or Montgomery Improvement Association, they elected Martin Luther King Jr as president of the association (Direr, 2006). This then turned into a massive civil rights movement, which involved the United States as a whole, and even trickled down into what we have today. The tactic was successful of getting the message across, that black peoples were tired of being treated poorly and it was time for a change. It was always assumed that parks did not give up her seat because of exhaustion from the day, she clarified that “the only tired I was, was tired of giving in” (Parks, as cited by Direr, 2006, p. 89). She stood up for what she thought was right, even though she knew it would mean being arrested.

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Parks longed for a society that did not segregate black people from white people, a society where there was more equality. She wanted to live in a society that minimized “any artificial barriers of racial segregation” (Direr, 2006, p. 89). Being able to ride the bus with out worry of segregation was only just a dream at first. Parks also spoke about the embarrassment that came along with bus segregation. It must have felt humiliating to admit that day after day, you are viewed as less than because of the color of your skin. It was truly a hateful act, to treat black peoples in this way. While attending a workshop to learn about breaking down barriers when it comes to race, Parks said “One of my greatest pleasures there was enjoying the smell of bacon frying and coffee brewing and knowing that white folks were doing the preparing instead of me” (Parks, as cited by Direr, 2006, p.89). Living in a society where you are treated badly, or like you do not matter must have been very tough. Unfortunately, racism is still very alive today.

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The woman in this photo is an inspiration, if I showed this picture of when she was arrested and fingerprinted to some and tell them she is a hero, my sanity might come into question to some. The woman in these pictures is Rosa Parks. For a long time in the United States of America black people were treated less than, they could not use the same washroom as white people, could not marry a white person, were required to sit at the back of the bus and many more barriers existed, black people were just overall, considered a lower class. Parks was sick of this, she was human and deserved to be treated in such a manner, black person or not during this time the bus system would aid people getting two and from work but contributed greatly to racial segregation (Parks, 2018). She should be allowed to be able to make the choice of where to sit on the bus as she travels home in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 1, 1955, Rosa got on a bus after work and sat down but this time it was not in the back of the bus, it was in the fifth row of the bus. This is the first row that black people are allowed to sit, she was accompanied by some others. The first four rows were already occupied by white people. When a white person boarded, Parks refused to give up her seat for the white person to sit down (Drier, 2006). The police were called, and Parks was then arrested. She stood up for what she thought was right, even though she was arrested for it. Parks could have even been killed, but fighting for something she believed in was more important.

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Rosa Parks was born on February 4th, 1913, and passed away October 24,2005 at age 92. She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama and passed in Detroit, Michigan. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a tradesman. She was raised primarily by her mother, as her parents separated when she was a little girl (Britannica, 2024). Parks stood up for herself against racism, on December 1, 1955, following in her grandfathers’ footsteps. Parks said that her grandfather “would call white men by their first names, with out using Mister and he was quite outspoken” (Parks as cited by Direr, 2006, p. 88). Parks married at 19 and went back to school, to which she got a job as seamstress which is how she made a living (Britannica,2024). In 1943 Parks joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP for short. She was one of the first women to join NAACP in Montgomery, Alabama (Drier, 2006). After she was arrested for her refusal to give up her seat, in the events that followed Parks and her husband lost their job. Parks and her husband then moved to Detroit, Michigan where she remained a member of NAACP.

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Rosa Parks fought against the oppression faced by Black people in the United States of America. She made history because of her refusal to move from her bus seat on December 1, 1955 to allow a white person to sit down. Her decline to allow a white person to sit down, sparked a bus ban and named her the “mother of a civil rights movement” (Direr,2006). Parks was sick and tired of living a life of accommodation to white people “You spend your whole lifetime in your occupation, actually making life clever, easy and convenient for white people. But when you have to get transportation home, you are denied an equal accommodation. Our existence was for the white man’s comfort and wellbeing; we had to accept being deprived of just being human” (Parks as cited by Parks, 2018) The act itself was not actually an isolated moment “I had almost an entire lifetime of being rebellious against being mistreated because of my color” (Parks, as cited by Direr, 2006, p. 88). She helped raise money for other black people, she made attempts to register to vote and was successful, she befriended others in the civil rights movement, and she was one of the first women that joined NAACP (Direr,2006). She created a storm really; many think it was just an isolated incident, but she knew a change had to be made. The NAACP used Parks story, with her consent to start a ban against the use of Montgomery bus system.