A Black History Month Minute
To raise awareness of racial inequality in the U.S., leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in our country during the mid-50s to the mid-60s organized bus boycotts, sit-ins and freedom rides.
Rosa Parks, a native Detroiter living in Montgomery, Alabama, played a role by refusing to give up her bus seat. Black residents took alternate transportation for almost a year. Their message was heard and bus segregation ended there.
Residents in other cities, who relied on racially segregated bus transportation, followed suit. College students from the North and South, called freedom riders, supported the cause by participating in sit-ins at segregated lunch counters.
The Woolworth in Greensboro, North Carolina was the first and led to sit-ins on park benches, in theaters and other public spaces. Through nonviolent means of demonstration, protestors exposed the issues of racial inequality with moral authority.
To bring this discussion to life for your children, visit the Rosa Parks, bus exhibit at the Henry Ford.
Content provided by Oakland University
