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Witness History: How Rosa Parks took a stand against racism

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Rosa with blockson.jpg

08/02/2024 GMT

How Rosa Parks took a stand against racism

BBC World Service - Witness History, How Rosa Parks took a stand against racism

Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat helped end segregation in the United States

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger and sparked the end of segregation in the United States.

Rosa Parks was brought up in Alabama during the Jim Crow era, when state laws enforced segregation in practically all aspects of daily life.

Public schools, water fountains, trains and buses all had to have separate facilities for white people and black people.

As a passionate civil rights activist, Rosa was determined to change this.

In December 1955, she was travelling home from the department store where she worked as a seamstress.

When a white passenger boarded the bus, Rosa was told to give up her seat.

Her refusal to do so and subsequent arrest sparked a bus boycott in the city of Montgomery, led by Dr Martin Luther King.

Using BBC interviews with Rosa and Dr King, Vicky Farncombe tells how Rosa’s story changed civil rights history and led to the end of segregation.

This programme includes outdated and offensive language.

(Photo: Rosa Parks sitting on a bus. Credit: Getty Images)

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