Rosa Parks initiated the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 after her refusal to give up her bus seat for a white passenger who had missed a seat in the white’s section. According to the segregation laws, the black and the whites had separate schools, water fountains, and sitting locations in buses. Cristina Barron in The Washington Post, posit that Rosa Parks was tired of the degrading manner in which the blacks were being subjected to. The black people were also supposed to give up their seats to the white passengers in the event where the whites’ section was already full (Barron 2013). Rosa Parks was angered by this kind of rules. Together with her husband, they were active members of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ), where she served as a secretary. She headed a local civil rights activist group where she championed their aspirations by being the first to publicly defy orders to leave her to sit for a white passenger.
It is clear that the society that Rosa Parks lived in exercised racial discrimination. This inequality in the society can best be explained by the conflict sociological perspective. The theory asserts that the racial conflict in the society results from the selfish interests of a section of the people in the society basing on their race. The conflict sociological perspective emphasizes that social change helps in reducing inequality in the society. The activism that started in Montgomery and spread to other black dominated places in the United States led to the end of segregation laws which were largely biased. The theory asserts that important social views in any society are controlled by the various divisions of its people. This kind of special interests, according to Jon Witt, leads to conflict which is only can only be stamped out when there is equality (Witt 2016). Order and stability in Montgomery were restored when the courts supported the fair treatment demands from the black leaders.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Rosa Parks’ advocacy influenced subsequent activism with intensified the quest to have equal treatment regardless of color in the in the United States. Her daring and courageous act made her heroin among the black American. It was at this point that the Montgomery bus boycott was started. Following its commencement, the black leaders started the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which advocated for employment of black drivers, dignified treatment, as well as first-come, first-seated order on the public buses. They sought alternative means of transport for the blacks rather than using the buses. Their demands were met with a lot of resistance and even violence where most of the black leaders were arrested. However, the activism continued until the Supreme Court ruled the segregation law as unconstitutional. The black people were then free to sit on any bus seat in the United States, through the advocacy of Rosa Parks and other black leaders.
The advocacy for equality by Rosa Parks in the 19 th century in the United States is very key and can be applied in the current societies. Rosa and the other leaders showed great courage and zeal that needs to be emulated everyone who desires to have equal treatment for every citizen. Inequalities by ethnicity, gender, color, or disability should be fought against in equal measure for the betterment of the society. The distinct parts of the society are all responsible for the reduction of inequality. From Rosa’s case, it is clear that if same minded people strongly hold hands to have changed to oppressive social norms, then the society would achieve stability as well as equality. The current activist learns to have a never-dying resilient heart despite numerous challenges until their aspirations are met. Rosa Parks is an activist whose works are still going to be influential even in the present generation.
References
Barron, C. (2013). Rosa Parks’ little protest led to big change. The Washington Post. Democracy Dies in Darkness
Witt, J. (2016). SOC 2016 (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
