Civil rights activist Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on an Alabama bus, resulting in triggered the Montgomery bus boycott for 381 days. this helped launch nationwide efforts to end the segregation of public facilities. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received numerous honors during her life, including the NAACP's highest honor. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayOn December 1, 1955, after a long day of work at a Montgomery department store, where she worked as a seamstress, Rosa Parks went up to board the Cleveland Avenue Bus for home. She took her place in the first of many rows reserved for “colored” passengers. The Montgomery City Code required that all public transportation be segregated and that bus drivers have the "powers of a city police officer when actually in charge of any bus for the purpose of application of the provisions of the code. When operating a bus, drivers were required to provide separate but equal accommodations to white and black passengers by assigning seats. This was accomplished with a line roughly in the middle of the bus separating white passengers at the front of the bus and African American passengers at the rear. When an African American passenger boarded the bus, they had to go up to the front to pay for their fare, then get off and reboard the bus through the rear door. As the bus Rosa was on continued its route, it began to fill with white passengers. Eventually the bus was full and the driver noticed several white passengers standing in the aisle. Rosa's bus driver stopped the bus and moved the sign separating the two sections back one row, asking four black passengers to give up their seats. The city's bus ordinance did not specifically give drivers the authority to require a passenger to give up their seat to anyone, regardless of color. However, Montgomery bus drivers had become accustomed to moving back the sign separating black and white passengers and, if necessary, asking black passengers to give up their seats to white passengers. If the black passenger protested, the bus driver had the power to refuse service and could call the police to have him removed. Three of the other black passengers on Rosa's bus obeyed the driver, but Rosa refused and remained seated. The driver asked, “Why don’t you get up?” to which Rosa replied, "I don't think I should have to get up." The driver called the police and had him arrested. Later, Rosa recalled that her refusal was not due to physical fatigue, but because she was tired of giving in. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Police arrested Rosa at the scene and charged her with violation of Chapter 6, Article 11, of the Montgomery City Code. She was taken to the police station where later that night she was released on bail..