Civil rights activist Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 to October 24, 2005) refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on an Alabama bus, which which spurred the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott that helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of public facilities. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to revoke the law mandating racial segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many honors during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay On December 1, 1955, after a long day at work at a Montgomery department store, where she worked as a seamstress, Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue Bus for home. He sat in the first of several rows designated 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 while actually in charge of any bus for the purpose of carrying out the provisions" of the code. While driving a bus, drivers had to provide separate but equal accommodations for white and black passengers by assigning seats. This was accomplished with a line roughly down the center of the bus that separated the white passengers at the front of the bus and the African American passengers at the rear. When an African-American passenger boarded the bus, he or she had to get on the front to pay the fare and then get off and re-board the bus through the back door. As the bus on which Rosa continued its route, it began to fill with white passengers. Eventually, the bus was full and the driver noticed that several white passengers were 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 ask a passenger to give up a seat to anyone, regardless of color. However, Montgomery bus drivers had adopted the habit of moving back the sign separating white and black 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 authority to refuse service and could call the police to have them 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 stand up." The driver called the police and had her arrested. Later, Rosa recalled that her refusal was not due to physical exhaustion, but that she was tired of giving up. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Police arrested Rosa at the scene and charged her with violation of Chapter 6, Section 11, of the Montgomery City Code. She was taken to police headquarters, where, later that night, she was released on bail.