Facts

On December 1, 1955, forty-three year old Rosa Parks boarded a Montgomery, Alabama city bus after finishing work as a tailor's assistant at the Montgomery Fair department store. As all black patrons were required to do, she paid her fare at the front of the bus and then re-boarded in the rear. She sat in a vacant seat in the back next to a man and across the aisle from two women. Parks was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for workers' rights and racial equality After a few stops, the seats in the front of the bus became full and a white man who had boarded, stood in the aisle. The bus driver asked Parks, the man next to her, and the two women to let the white man have their seats. As the others moved, Parks remained in her seat. The bus driver again asked her to move, but she refused. The driver called the police, and she was arrested. She did not know it at the time, but this courageous act would lead to a 382 day bus boycott and the desegregation of buses throughout the United States. Segregation er betegnelsen for adskillelse af befolkningsgrupper og kulturer indenfor et land eller en by. Det kan f.eks. være en adskillelse af etniske grupper i forhold til hovedkulturen, eller en adskillelse der beror på sociale forskelle. I Sydafrika så man under apartheid et ekstremt eksempel på segregation, hvor sorte og hvide levede i hver deres bydel. Denne segregation var politisk bestemt og blevet til som følge af lovgivning. I mindre ekstreme tilfælde sker segregationen ofte mere eller mindre spontant. Kulturel segregation er en isolering af en bestemt kulturel eller etnisk gruppe fra hovedkulturen. I dette tilfælde vil den etniske minoritet typisk opretholde sin oprindelige kultur med egne traditioner, og med ingen eller meget begrænset kontakt til hovedkulturen. Et eksempel herpå er den såkaldte ghettodannelse. Segregation kan også skyldes social ulighed; velhavende mennesker vil søge mod mere attraktive kvarterer i byer, mens de dårligst stillede ofte bliver overladt til de mindre attraktive områder. Jim Crow-lovene var et sæt af love i USA, der i perioden mellem 1876 og 1965 var gældende i forskellige amerikanske stater. Lovgivningen ligestillede formelt sorte og hvide amerikanere, men påbød en adskillelse af de offentlig tilgængelige områder, som sorte og hvide amerikanere kunne færdes i, eksempelvis skoler, hospitaler, busser og restauranter. I realiteten indebar lovene, at den sorte befolkningsgruppe blev påført en række ulemper i forhold til den hvide befolkningsgruppe. The legislation formally equated black and white Americans, but ordered a separation of the open to the public areas, that black and white Americans could move in, for instance schools, with hospitals, buses and restaurants. In reality the laws implied that the black population section was caused a number of disadvantages in comparison with the white population section. The NAACP is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP was started 12 February 1909 as an organization to promote the rights of minorities. The NAACP consists of different departments that are concerned with various aspects of minority rights such as legal, education and employment. The Civil Rights Movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring approximately between 1950 to 1980. It was accompanied by much civil unrest and popular rebellion