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• How often do you ride the bus?
• Where do you prefer to sit – in the front, in the middle or in the back?

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• What does the text talk about?

During the 1900’s black Americans suffered much discrimination in the United States. Segregation of blacks and whites was common in restaurants churches, public schools as well as on public transportation.

On busses, the first few rows of seats were reserved for white people only, and black people were supposed to give up their seats for white passengers. In Alabama, on December 1st, 1955, a woman by the name of Rosa Parks was told to give up her seat on the bus for a white male who had just gotten on. She refused. Later she said, “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.” Parks was then arrested and fined for breaking the law. However, this event led to a massive boycott of the public busses. Many agreed they wouldn’t ride the busses until they were treated with respect until black bus drivers were hired and until they didn’t have to give up their seats to white people anymore. For 381 days, no African American took the busses, causing huge financial problems to the bus transit company, and adding to the end of laws requiring segregation on busses.

Through a small but brave act, Rosa Parks helped bringing the problem of racial discrimination to the forefront of social issues. Although it took many more years to get rid of segregation and racial discrimination, Rosa Parks was one of the most influential and revolutionary leaders of her time.

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• True or false?

Example: She was happy about the situation. > False.

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• What do you think about how Rosa Parks acted?
• What can we do to help stop racism?