Most historians date the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the United States to December 1, 1955. That was the day when an unknown seamstress1 in Montgomery, Alabama refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. This brave woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested and fined for violating a city ordinance2, but her lonely act of defiance3 began a movement that ended legal segregation4 in America, and made her an inspiration to freedom-loving people everywhere.
Standing up for equality by sitting down
Rosa Parks is a courageous woman and true American hero because she was the first to stand up against5 the racial6 and social injustices that were still taking place due to Jim Crow legislation7 in the south during the 1950s. Jim Crow made sure that schools, parks, playgrounds, restaurants, hotels, public transportation, theaters, restrooms, drinking fountains8, and so on were all segregated, or racially separated. This meant that African Americans could only use facilities9 that were labeled “Colored Only”.
On the historical day of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was tired and on her way home from a long day at work. With a bag of groceries in her arms, she boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus. Soon the “White Section” of the bus filled up and a white man boarded the bus and looked around for a seat. Due to Montgomery segregation laws, the bus drivers were to designate10 the front part of the bus for whites and the rear section for blacks, therefore creating an imaginary11 color line. However, they were not supposed to move the color line to the back of the bus and take seats away from blacks. Noticing the white man, the bus driver then yelled at12 four blacks, including Parks, to get up and move to the back of the bus. All of them but Parks obeyed. When she refused, the bus driver called the police. By around six o'clock, she was arrested and taken to jail. The next day, her husband went to pick up her from the jail after paying a big price for her freedom.
Rosa Parks stated once in an interview that “People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
The Montgomery bus boycott13
Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat inspired the young pastor14, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help form the Montgomery Improvement Association. The association organized a boycott of the city-owned bus company.
Black leaders urged black people to boycott, or refuse to use the buses in Montgomery. Martin Luther King Jr. led the peaceful boycott. Though originally scheduled15 for only one day, the boycott lasted 381 days. At the time, blacks made up about two-thirds of Montgomery's bus riders.
People walked many miles to work or home to avoid using the buses and the bus companies lost around US$3,000 each day. The U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled that Montgomery could no longer have a segregated public transportation system because it violated the Constitution. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 required that all public facilities across the country be desegregated16.
Mother of the Civil Rights Movement
Parks was born on Feb. 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her father was a carpenter and her mother was a teacher. Before Parks became active in the civil rights movement, she was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)17 and worked as a seamstress.
After the Montgomery bus boycott, Parks and her family moved to Detroit, Michigan. She worked for U.S. Representative18 John Conyers Jr. until she retired in 1988.
Parks' example of peaceful and nonviolent protest encouraged a generation to take action to change the nation. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kil Patrick said Parks helped him find success in life. “She stood up by sitting down. I'm only standing here because of her.”
Her honor
In 1979, Rosa Parks received the Spingarn Medal19. In 1980, at the 25th anniversary20 celebration of the bus boycott, Parks was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Non-violent Peace Prize. In 1984, she was given the Eleanor Roosevelt Woman of Courage Award. Rosa Parks was the recipient21 of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian22 honor in the United States.
Mrs. Parks stayed active in her work with the NAACP until a few years before her death on October 24, 2005 at age 92. Mrs. Parks was the first female to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda23, following in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and other national leaders. A vintage24 Metropolitan bus dressed in black bunting25 and leading other city buses followed behind the hearse26. More than 30 thousand people filed past her casket27 to pay their last respects. Her funeral was held November 2, 2005, a day in which President Bush ordered that flags of all federal buildings were to be flown at half mast28 to honor this quiet lady with the far reaching voice.
大多数历史学家认为美国现代民权运动始于1955年12月1日。那天，阿拉巴马州蒙哥马利市一名默默无闻的缝纫女工在公共汽车上拒绝给一位白人乘客让座。这位勇敢的妇女——罗莎·帕克斯，由于违反市政条例而被捕，并处以罚款，但是她个人的挑战行为却掀起了一场运动，由此结束了美国的种族隔离制度。她的行为激励着世界各地热爱和平的人们。
坐下去，是为了平等地站起来
罗莎·帕克斯是一位勇气非凡的女性，她是真正的美国英雄，因为是她首先站起来反对20世纪50年代仍在美国南方盛行的种族和社会不平等的吉姆·克劳法案。该法案规定在学校、公园、运动场、餐厅、旅馆、公交车辆、剧院、洗手间、自动饮水器等公共场所都要实行种族隔离。这就意味着非洲裔美国人只能使用标有“有色人种专用”字样的设施。
在1955年12月1日这个具有历史意义的一天，罗莎·帕克斯结束了漫长一天的辛苦工作，拖着疲惫的身躯踏上了回家之路。她怀抱一大袋杂货登上了一辆开往克利夫兰大道的公共汽车。很快，车上的“白人区域”坐满了人，这时一名白人男子上车后环视四周，想找一个座位。根据蒙哥马利市的种族隔离法规，公汽司机应将汽车前部定为白人区域，将汽车后部定为黑人区域，从而无形中划分出一条种族分界线。但是，他们不能将界线移到汽车尾部，也不能剥夺黑人的座位。这辆汽车的司机注意到了这名白人男子，于是朝包括帕克斯在内的4名黑人大声喊叫，让他们站起来移到汽车尾部去。除了帕克斯以外，其他几个人都照做了。遭到她的拒绝后，司机报了警。6点钟左右，她被逮捕且关进了监狱。第二天，她的丈夫付了一大笔保释金后才将她带出监狱。
罗莎·帕克斯曾在一次采访中说：“人们总是说，我不愿让座是因为那天我累了，其实并非如此。我的身体并不累，或者不比平时下班的时候累。我只是厌倦了屈服。”
蒙哥马利拒乘公汽运动
罗莎·帕克斯拒绝让座的举动鼓舞了年轻的牧师小马丁·路德·金博士。在他的帮助下，蒙哥马利进步协会成立了。该协会组织了抵制乘坐市政公汽的运动。
黑人领袖们呼吁黑人在蒙哥马利市联合抵制或拒绝乘坐公共汽车。小马丁·路德·金领导了这场和平抵制运动。这场运动原本只计划进行1天，结果却持续了381天。当时在蒙哥马利市，大约三分之二的公汽乘客是黑人。
人们步行数英里上下班，拒绝乘坐公交车，公汽公司因此每天要损失3，000美元左右。最后，美国最高法院作出裁决，蒙哥马利市的公交系统不再实行种族隔离，因为这种做法违反了《宪法》。美国通过了1964年《民权法案》，规定在全国所有公共场合废除种族隔离制度。
民权运动之母
帕克斯1913年2月4日出生于阿拉巴马州的塔斯齐基市。父亲是木匠，母亲是教师。帕克斯在积极参与民权运动之前， 是“全国有色人种协进会”（NAACP）的成员，职业是缝纫女工。
蒙哥马利拒乘公汽运动后，帕克斯和家人移居密执安州底特律市，在那里，她一直为美国众议院议员小约翰·柯尼尔斯工作，直至1988年退休。
帕克斯和平非暴力的抗议行为起到了榜样作用，鼓舞着一代人为改变这个国家而努力。底特律市市长克威姆·吉尔·帕特里克说，他的成功应归因于帕克斯。“她通过坐下去从而实现了站起来。因为她，我今天才能够站在这里。”
生前故后的荣誉
1979年，罗莎·帕克斯获得了斯宾甘奖章。1980年，在庆祝拒乘公汽运动25周年之际，帕克斯被授予马丁·路德·金非暴力和平奖。1984年又获得埃莉诺·罗斯福勇敢妇女奖。罗莎·帕克斯还是“总统自由奖章”及“国会金质奖章”两个奖项的得主，后者是美国为平民设立的最高奖项。
帕克斯直至去世的前几年一直热衷于全国有色人种协进会的工作。她2005年10月24日逝世，享年92岁。帕克斯的灵柩被安放在国会大厦圆形大厅接受瞻仰致敬，是享有此种荣誉的第一位美国女性，在此之前只有亚伯拉罕·林肯、约翰·F·肯尼迪以及其他国家领导人才享有此殊荣。一辆当年模样的公共汽车扎满黑旗在前面开路，其他公共汽车尾随她的灵车。3万余人列队经过她的灵柩，向她致以最后的敬意。葬礼于2005年11月2日举行，布什总统下令当天所有联邦政府大楼降半旗，向这位影响深远的沉默女士致敬。
1. seamstress n. 女裁缝，女针线工
2. ordinance n. 法令，条例
3. defiance n. 挑战，蔑视
4. segregation n. 种族隔离
5. stand up against抵抗，反抗
6. racial adj. 人种的，种族的
7. legislation n. 立法
8. drinking fountain （设于公共场所）自动饮水器
9. facility n. （复）设备，公共设施
10. designate v. 指明，指派
11. imaginary adj. 想像的，虚构的
12. yell at... 对…吼叫
13. boycott n. 联合抵制
14. pastor n. 牧师
15. schedule v. 确定时间
16. desegregate v. 废除种族隔离
17. NAACP （美）全国有色人种协进会
18. representative n. （美）众议员
19. The Spingarn Medal 斯宾甘奖章，美国全国有色人种协进会授予非洲裔美国人的特殊贡献奖项。
20. anniversary n. 周年纪念
21. recipient n. 获得者，接受者
22. civilian n. 平民，百姓
23. The Capitol Rotunda（美）国会大厦圆形大厅
24. vintage adj. 古老的
25. bunting n. （做）旗（子的薄）布，旗帜
26. hearse n. 灵车，柩车
27. casket n. （美)棺材
28. at half mast下半旗（志哀）