Answer:
Rosa Parks, the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement," visited the Scholastic website in January and February 1997 to answer questions from students.
During this monthlong project, students learned how Mrs. Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott by not giving up her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955. And how, as a result of that brave act, in 1956 the Supreme Court ruled segregation on buses was illegal.
Rosa Parks died on October 25, 2005 at age 92.
Below are Rosa Parks's answers to questions from students.
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Explanation:
Interview with Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks, the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement," visited the Scholastic website in January and February 1997 to answer questions from students.
During this monthlong project, students learned how Mrs. Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott by not giving up her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955. And how, as a result of that brave act, in 1956 the Supreme Court ruled segregation on buses was illegal.
Rosa Parks died on October 25, 2005 at age 92.
Below are Rosa Parks's answers to questions from students.
Life Before Civil Rights
Rosa Parks' Role in Civil Rights
Civil Rights Today
Other Questions
Life Before Civil Rights
How do you feel about the way black Americans used to be treated?
I always felt badly because our people were not treated fairly. We should have been free and given the same opportunities others had.
How did it feel not to have civil rights?
Of course it felt like we should all be free people and we should have the same rights as other people. In the South, at that time, there was legally enforced segregation. There were places black people couldn't go, and rights we did not have. This was not acceptable to me. A lot of other people didn't disobey the rules because they didn't want to get into trouble. I was willing to get arrested — it was worth the consequences.
When you were little, did you understand that black people weren't treated fairly?
When I was a young child I couldn't understand why black people weren't treated fairly. But when I did learn about it, I didn't feel very good about it.
How do you feel about the people who treated you so unfairly?
I don't think well of people who are prejudiced against people because of race. The only way for prejudiced people to change is for them to decide for themselves that all human beings should be treated fairly. We can't force them to think that way.
Were you allowed to learn to read when you were little?
Well, yes. I was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. I was allowed to read. My mother, who was a teacher, taught me when I was a very young child.
The first school I attended was a small building that went from first to sixth grade. There was one teacher for all of the students. There could be anywhere from 50 to 60 students of all different ages. From 5 or 6 years old to in their teens. We went to school five months out of the year. The rest of the time young people would be available to work on the farm. The parents had to buy whatever the student used. Often, if your family couldn't afford it, you had no access to books, pencils, whatever. However, often the children would share. I liked to read all sorts of stories, like fairy tales — Little Red Riding Hood, Mother Goose. I read very often.
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