BUS BOYCOTT

African - Americans paid their fares at the front of the bus. But then they had to get off the bus and walk to the rear to enter it. They had to sit in a special section in the back of the bus. If a white person got on the bus and found no seat, the driver would tell the African - American person sitting nearest the front to move and give the white person his seat.

And that's what Rosa Parks refused to do on December 1, 1955. She was tired after working all day sewing dresses and suits. "I'm not going to move," she repeated to the driver. Rosa was arrested and taken to jail.

Word about Rosa's protest spread. African - Americans refused to ride the buses, and the bus company lost thousands of dollars. Rosa's lawyers went to court to prove that the bus company was not obeying the United States Constitution when it treated African - Americans unfairly. After almost a year, the Supreme Court said that the bus company had to change its rules. African - Americans were allowed to enter the bus from the front and sit anywhere they chose. No one had to give up his seat.

Rosa Parks helped make a big change in the United States because she was tired - tired of being treated unfairly.


ACTIVITY:
List the differences between the treatment of whites and African - Americans in 1955.