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How Did Rosa Parks Use Peaceful Resistance To Civil Rights

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Throughout American history, the peaceful resistance to laws has contributed to bringing about justice for those who are being restricted in freedoms by said laws. It is both the duty and the right of victims of these laws to stand up for what is just. Rosa Parks did exactly that in 1955 by choosing to remain seated when asked to give up her bus seat while in Montgomery, Alabama. Another act of civil disobedience was seen in the mid 1960s to the early 1970s, with the burning of draft cards to undercut the Selective Service Act and the Vietnam War. A current example of civil disobedience is the action taken to prevent to the route of the Dakota Access Pipeline. These three examples demonstrate that peaceful resistance can positively impact a free society. …show more content…

When a white man needed the seat, Parks was told to move. Parks boldly went against an Alabama law requiring African Americans to relinquish seats to white passengers when the bus was full by not getting up. By making the choice to peacefully resist an unfair law towards people of color, Parks lit the metaphorical powderkeg of the civil rights movement by inspiring the 381 day Montgomery Bus Boycott. The direct outcome of this boycott led to the Montgomery bus companies desegregating their busses, for they could not stay in business without African Americans contributing to the bus fares. Parks’ defiance to the unfair law contributed to society by helping African Americans in the south become one step closer towards real equality and losing the de facto status as second class

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