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First, it should be noted that Rosa Parks was not just a brave but random black woman who refused to give up her seat to a white person; she had actually been active in the Civil Rights Movement for a long time. Because she had an impeccable reputation (she was educated, articulate, and hard-working) and she cared deeply about civil rights, she was chosen to be the face of the civil disobedience protest that Martin Luther King and others had planned-- a boycott of the entire Montgomery bus system. This boycott was important because black people were some of the most frequent riders of the buses, even though they were expected to sit in the back and give up their seat whenever a white person wanted to sit down.

When Rosa Parks refused to be a second-class citizen any longer, and when not one black person in the city rode the buses, suddenly Montgomery's (and Alabama's) segregationist policies were in the news. The bus system began to lose money, while national media focused on the quiet, dignified black woman who had been treated so badly and who was even arrested. As people in other parts of the country learned about her situation, Rosa Parks became a symbol of courage for Americans who thought it was time for improvement in how southern black people were being treated. She was also a role model for many other black men and women who were determined to peacefully protest racism, and who hoped their efforts would lead to an end to segregation. To this day, people who learn about her story admire how she was willing to take such a courageous stand.

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9y ago

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