Analysis Of The Tallahassee Bus Protest Story By Kenzie Steele

During a crowded afternoon bus ride, "I decided I wasn't gonna take it anymore… After the other students got up, there were three empty seats in my row, but that white woman still wouldn't sit down-not even across the aisle from me…blacks had to be behind whites… 'Why are you still sittin' there?'"(Hoose 32). Initiating the Civil Rights Movement, Claudette Colvin refused to stand for a white lady when there was an empty row next to her. Claudette's bravery sparked a fire within the black community, & they attempted to keep her name in the papers. Through the short bout of fame, “The news that a schoolgirl had been arrested for refusing to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger flashed through Montgomery’s black community and traveled far beyond,”(Hoose 39).

The bus driver demanded her to get up from the seat and she still refused, saying she paid her fare and it was her constitutional right. The NAACP received a large number of letters saying how brave Colvin was to refuse her seat. Secretary of the NAACP Rosa Parks reviewed the letters and incepted by the NAACP to become the spokesperson of the NAACP's bus boycott and Anti-Segregation movement. I honestly had never heard of Claudette Colvin until watching the Drunk History video. The added humor

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader who advocated for nonviolent confrontation of segregation, wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as a response to the clergymen who interrogated his techniques of protest in “Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen”. The eight Alabama clergymen, who wanted to humiliate King in his efforts to peacefully demonstrate against discrimination, describe their concerns and cautions for the demonstrations controlled by an outsider, King, in the city of Birmingham. Although the clergymen state that they support King’s ultimate aims, they cannot accept the imprudent demonstrations. King, hoping to publicize and persuade the public to take action against segregation, cunningly refutes the clergymen’s concerns with the use of rhetorical strategies and devices to support his argument.

Do you know who Claudette Colvin is? Claudette Colvin is an important civil rights activist who made a notable impact on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She is a wondrous person for what she did. Claudette was born on September 5th 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama. She is currently 77 years old.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a very influential protest against the racial issues in North America. The boycott was lead by many significant leaders such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr, these people helped the black community unify to fight against discrimination and prejudice. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful because the white community realized that the black community was unifying. For example, the black people were very resourceful in finding ways not to use the public buses. According to Document C, “ On December 6, the police began to harass, intimidate, and arrest Negro taxi drivers who were helping these people to work.

Rosa Parks, an African American who suffered Jim Crow said, "Time begins the healing process of wounds cut deeply by oppression. We soothe ourselves with the salve of attempted indifference, accepting the false pattern set up by the horrible restriction of Jim Crow laws" (BrainyQuote). She is talking about people from her race at the time, oppressed deeply by these laws. A white person was forcing her to move seats to the back after an exhausting day. Jim Crow Laws were the reason that the white people were made the superior race.

It was 1943, a second lieutenant of a segregated Army Cavalry unit stationed in Texas walked onto a bus, an unsegregated bus. This man took a seat near the front of the bus but then was told that he must move to the back of the bus for a white man, and he refused to give up his seat. He was then arrested by the military police and was later brought to court for this “crime.” He was never allowed to be deployed overseas and never saw combat again, but these actions would symbolize a life full of pain, adversity, persistence, civil rights walls broken, and triumph… This is the life of Jackie Robinson (3).

On May 14th, the greyhound bus arrived and there were 200 white people waiting to attack the bus and the Freedom Riders. This caused the bus driver to not stop in the terminal, and continue straight with the mob of people were following the bus. As the bus continued, the cars of angry people followed, but the tires on the bus were wearing out. They busted, and the mob started attacking the bus. One man threw a bomb on the bus, and the people on the bus fortunately escaped.

From Discrimination to Diversity You would never guess that Birmingham, Alabama—the beautiful, vibrant, and culturally diverse city that we live in today—was once a city of brutality, hate, and discrimination. In 1963, the South was part of one of the largest movements in history—the Civil Rights Movement. Segregation between white and colored citizens was prevalent, from restaurants and amusement parks to restrooms and water fountains.

Claudette Colvin was only 15 years old when she decided that she was going to stand up against discrimination against black people. Claudette chose not to give up her bus seat and was confronted by the bus driver. After she was still refusing to give up her seat the bus driver called the police on her and she was charged with battery and assault. This story was very inspiring and shows that you should not let anyone tell you not to do something you have a right to do.

The part that really shocked me was when these men followed the bus up until it got a flat tire and set the fuel tank on fire, putting at risk the life of all these innocent people. Although the Riders were constantly being haunted by hate crimes, they refused to give in to violence and give up on their mission. This movement played a major role in our history, but it is important to remember and recognize what the Riders had to suffer

For the next few months, the African American students attended school under armed supervision. Even so, they faced physical and verbal abuse from their white peers’’(Source B).This demonstrates how people got together and protested along with the African American students on how the segregationists were being racist and treating them like they were nonexistent. This also shows how the segregationists were ignoring the fact that others were disagreeing with them, but they were mainly focused on being inconsiderate and treating the ‘’Little Rock Nine’’ poorly because they were Negros. After All, the Little Rock Showdown displayed how the segregationists treated the Negro students unequally because they were just as qualified to go to school with white

Martin Luther King Jr. How can one person change the world? Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist and leader . He completely changed the way people look at and treat others. Because of King civil right have changed forever and African Americans are now treated the same as anybody else.

According to Lia Parisyan of Literature Analysis, “a turning point of the Civil Rights struggle came when a woman named Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a bus.” The use of a bus as a setting alludes to one of the key points of the historical context. According to Enotes.com , the bus “[allows] …passengers to reveal their various social prejudices.” Even Julian, who “[is] free of prejudice” is not immune: “he [has tried] to strike up an acquaintance on the bus with some of the better types.” By doing so, the author shows that there was still underlying tension in society despite the desegregation.

Could you ever possibly imagine a time where you couldn’t use the same bathroom as some of your classmates because the had a different skin color? This time in history was known as the Civil Rights Movement, a movement from 1954-1954, in which people fought against racism. Although the Civil Rights Movement mainly affected African Americans, but involved all of American society. Because most racism against ancient African Americans took place in southern United States, civil rights was extremely important to African Americans who lived in the south. Racism was so widely spread it even found its way into professional sports.