According to a 1955 Montgomery, Alabama city ordinance, African Americans were required to sit in the back half of city buses, as well as give up their seats to white travelers if the front half of the bus--the area reserved for whites--was full. On December 1, 1955, a young African American lady, by the name of Rosa Parks, refused to yield her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. After refusing to give up her seat, Rosa Parks was arrested and fined $10, plus $4 in court fees.
Four days later, a protest movement, known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, began. This movement involved African Americans refusing to ride on Montgomery buses in an effort for certain demands to be met. Essentially, the protesters demanded courtesy, the hiring of black bus drivers, and a first-come, first-serve seating policy. And with the help of black ministers (among them Martin Luther King Jr.), the NAACP, and Montgomery citizens, the demands of the protesters were met--381 days after the beginning of the boycott. On June 5, 1956, a Montgomery federal court judge ruled that any law requiring segregated seating on buses was a violation of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Although the city of Montgomery appealed to the United States Supreme Court, Montgomery buses were at last integrated on December 21, 1956. The boycott ended that day.
Although terrible racial violence and segregation ensued as a result of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, it was the initial action that Rosa Parks took that brought about the change that resulted from the boycott. It was Rosa Parks taking action that resulted in the action taken by the Montgomery federal court judge. It was Rosa Parks refusing to be passive towards the enforcement of an unjust policy that resulted in a just policy being implemented. Additionally, the future mass-demonstrations of the civil rights movement were born out of the activism that Rosa Parks showcased on that December day in 1955. Essentially, change in race relations in Montgomery--and throughout the United States--came not as a result of passive inaction, but rather active measures.
Why did I just provide a brief overview of a significant act taken by Rosa Parks in 1955, as well as the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Simply put, I am making that case that nothing changes by doing nothing. It is only when action is taken--when activism takes root--that change comes.
Slavery was abolished in the United States not by waiting for it to be abolished--but rather a war was fought. The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was not ratified because many American women just dreamed of obtaining the right to vote--women publicly protested and lobbied politicians. Same-sex couples were not granted the fundamental right to marry their partners by just hoping for this right to be obtained--lobbying and protests occurred until the ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges granted this right. As well as, integrated buses in Montgomery, Alabama did not become a reality by waiting for integration measures to be enforced--Rosa Parks stayed in her seat.
Essentially, change only comes when change is sought after--actively, not passively. It goes without emphasizing that it is vital for activism to occur in today's society. In a bickering, troubled Congress, activism is needed. In poor rural towns and deteriorating cities, activism is needed. In overcrowded and inhumane jails, activism is needed. In dilapidated hospitals, activism is needed. In run-down public schools, activism is needed.
Overall, a lot of change is needed in today's society. Activism is needed.
