Each year in third quarter in communication arts in Room 210 we research the American civil rights movement, including such important developments as the Brown v. Board of Education decision and the Freedom Riders.
One event many have researched is the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and started by Rosa Parks' refusal to move to the back of a bus.
Apparently, the kind of racism that required Mrs. Parks to give up her seat at the front of a bus to an able-bodied white male still exists. Associated Press reports a white school bus driver ordered nine African American students to move to the back of the bus:
One of her children, Jarvonica Williams, 16, said the bus driver allowed many white students to have seats all to themselves while some blacks were forced to stand or sit in others' laps.
Iva Richmond, whose 14- and 15-year-old children were on the bus, said Thursday that they previously had a black bus driver, but their bus assignment changed this year. When school started this month, the white driver told them she had assigned them seats, with the black children at the back of the bus.
(Photo information: Janice Williams, left, was one of the mothers who complained to school leaders about the bus driver. Photo by Associated Press)
2 comments:
1. What caused the black students on the bus to be moved to the back of the bus? Use two examples from the story to support your answer.
2. According to Jarvonica Williams, why was the new seating arrangement unfair? Use an example from the story to support your answer.
3. Why do you think that they used the Rosa Parks story to compare with the recent occurrence on the school bus? Use two details from the story to support your answer.
It is amazing that this sort of activity still exists. What the bus driver did was completely uncalled for. Better than fire her, she should be forced to face the potential humiliation that she has coming to her by facing everyone who will now know who she is. This punishment is far worse. Chances are though, she will quit on her own anyway under the pressure.
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