Standing Up to Segregation

1 Rosa Parks was a black woman who helped start the Civil

Rights Movement in a very small way. She would not give up

her seat on a bus!

2 Rosa Parks’s act took place in 1955. At that time, segregation

was a way of life in the American South. Segregation was

when people were separated based on the color of their skin.

3 Black people were not allowed to be treated in the same

hospitals as white people. They could not go to the same

restaurants. They could not use the same water fountains. Black

children could not go to the same schools as white children.

They could not use the same playgrounds as white children.

4 Black people had to ride in the back of public buses. In

Montgomery, Alabama, if a white person wanted to sit down

and all the front seats were taken, then a black person would be

forced to give up his or her seat. Black people had no choice

but to follow these unfair rules every day. One day, Rosa

Parks was told to give up her seat as well, but she decided

that she would not give up her seat to the white man. She was

immediately arrested by the police for her actions.

5 Black people had dealt with this injustice for hundreds

of years. Some people thought that segregation was wrong.

Others did not. There were many challenges in court, but

southern states did not end segregation.

6 Parks’s challenge was not meant to result in a court case.

That day on the bus, it is likely that the riders had little idea

that they were watching history being made. The people on the bus probably were unsuspecting about the effect of

Parks’s actions. After she was arrested, black leaders in

Montgomery organized a boycott of city buses. The boycott

was led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

7 For 382 days, black people refused to ride the city buses.

They found other ways to get to work and school. They

walked. They rode bicycles. They rode with people who had

cars. The boycott went on and on. It grew larger and larger.

Finally, the United States Supreme Court said that segregated

seating on city buses was against the Constitution.

8 Rosa Parks continued her civil rights work for the rest

of her life until her death in 2005. She spoke out for the

rights of African Americans. In 1999, she was awarded a

Congressional Medal of Honor. This is the highest award

given by the government of the United States.



Read this sentence from the passage: Black people had no choice but to follow these [u]unfair[/u] rules every day.

The prefix un- means "not", so the word [u]unfair[/u] means

Levi Strauss, Gold Rush Peddler

1 The California gold rush was going strong! Every day,

prospectors trekked their way out of San Francisco and

headed towards the gold diggings. Beside the trail, there

stood a peddler, who set out his bags on the streets in hopes

of selling his canvas tenting material. The peddler’s name

was Levi Strauss. Levi felt certain that the prospectors would

need the tenting material he was selling for their travels. But

sadly, no one stopped to buy the material. Not one prospector

stopped to look at the peddler’s supplies. Tired and discouraged,

Levi gathered up his wares and went off to find a place

to sleep for the night.

2 The following days were no better than the first. Not a

single traveler purchased material from the peddler. Then

early one morning, the peddler noticed a miner coming from

the gold mines, headed for the city. The miner’s clothes were

very badly tattered and destroyed. He looked uncomfortable;

his clothes were worn and frayed at all the edges, and his

pants were covered with patches. The miner saw the peddler’s

wares and asked if he had a pair of pants for sale. The peddler

had none. The miner wondered if the peddler had some

cloth. But the only kind of cloth that the peddler had was

canvas. That was the material that was used to make the tents.

Suddenly, wheels started turning in Levi’s head. Canvas was

a strong, thick material. Maybe a pair of pants could be made

from the canvas!

3 Together, the peddler and the miner went into San

Francisco to find a tailor. Hurriedly, the tailor made a pair of

pants from the canvas. The miner tried on the new pants. He

was impressed. It was the best pair he had ever owned. The

tailor and the peddler were also impressed.

4 On his way back, the peddler started to think more about

these canvas pants. He gathered all of the tenting material and

talked to as many tailors as he could. Within weeks, the peddler

was busy selling pants to the miners. He later switched the

material from canvas to denim because it was more durable.

The pants, which became known as Levi’s, were sold as fast

as tailors could make them. Later, Strauss discovered that the

pants pockets often wore out because the miners carried gold

nuggets in them. He knew what had to be done. He secured

the pockets with copper rivets. Soon the pants that had been

inspired by a gold rush peddler became the favorite garment

of the West. Levi Strauss was on his way to fame. And Levi’s

were on their way to becoming an everyday part of life.



Read this sentence from the passage: He looked [u]uncofortable[/u]; his clothes were worn and frayed at the edges, and his pants were covered with patches.

What does [u]uncomfortable[/u] mean?