The Rosa Parks Story Movie Analysis Essay

Introduction

The movie The Rosa Parks Story was released in 2002 and depicted the story of Rosa Parks which begins when she enrolls at a private school for black girls. The administration of the school is headed by two quacker women. Young Rosa is seen standing for her beliefs as her mother advices her to speak up in class in case she has the answer to any question posed. Adulthood sets in so fast and the young Rosa has grown up. She joins high school, and that is when she meets Raymond Park who owns a barber shop and is an activist. They later fall in love and get married. She goes ahead to volunteer as a secretary at a local chapter of NACCP while she is still a seamstress. Rosa is given the job of leading a youth group where the president is E.D Nixon. Rosa encourages children to read and plans for a protest over the poor system of the library. Again, Rosa is portrayed as a strong, shy and idealistic woman where she becomes an embodiment of collective resistance driven by her Christian domination when she refuses to forfeit her seat to a white man on a Montgomery Alabama bus. The events in the movie are aligned with how black women were discriminated in a white-dominated society. The following paper presents instances where Rosa was victimized by white people by color.

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The first scenario is when Rosa attempts to register as a voter. While white citizens would walk in and make applications, she was forced to take a written civics test by a white woman who was at the reception. Despite her efforts to answer the questions correctly, she was denied the services where the white woman claimed she had failed but did not tell Rosa the precise questions that she had failed. Rosa took up the test several times until she decided and told the white woman that she would take legal action regarding the issue. At that juncture, she was offered registration services as a voter (Stevenson).

Another instance that represents how black women were discriminated by white people is when Rosa is thrown out of the bus by a white man who was the driver. During that time, both blacks and whites were entitled to an equal number of seats on the bus. The people of color were supposed to get in and pay the fare at the front then step out and board the bus through the back door. Rosa paid her bus fare and then took a seat at the back section meant for people of color. However, she was confronted by the driver-who was mandated to oversee all operations in the bus- and was told to get out and come back through the back door but she refused the demand. Rosa then decided to leave and not use the bus home. As she was walking out, she pauses and takes a seat at the front, and the white woman she sat next immediately wakes up claiming that she could not seat with Rosa. In addition, after Rosa steps out of the bus, the driver closes the door quickly as she was to reach her umbrella. The driver then throws out the umbrella which had already been destroyed by continued compression by the bus door. Rosa had to walk home under heavy rain without an umbrella. By the time she got home, she was wet, shaky and extremely frustrated (Stevenson).

The third scenario in line with the topic of women and society is when Rosa is working at NAACP as a youth leader (Stevenson). While in her line of duty, Rosa plans a protest against the process used in the library. The white female librarian issued the white children issued with books instantly whereas their black counterparts would have to follow a certain procedure that was tedious and less effective. The procedure was that these black children were supposed to borrow books from libraries near their home areas and if the needed books were not in the store, then they would have to request from the main library then wait for the books to be sent to them.

Lastly, the instance showing the victimization of black women by whites is when Rosa refused to give up her bus seat to a white man at Montgomery, Alabama. Despite confrontation by the driver to vacate the seat, Rosa took a firm stand of refusing to forfeit her seat because that particular position was meant for people of color. The driver went ahead to threaten her that he would call the police officers if she would continue declining his command. Although the audience expected Rosa would cause drama because she knew she was fighting for her rights and those of other black people, she held a silent protest. The driver then called in the police officers who at first said that there was no reason to arrest Rosa because she was seating in the section set for people of color. In a bid to prove Rosa was in the wrong, the driver took the tag indicating the section for people of color and placed it on the seat behind Rosa prompting her arrest. Rosa's arrest stirred up civil rights movement whose main aim was to challenge the segregation of women of color. In addition, while at the cell, Rosa realized that her cellmates were black women who were also arrested for wrongs they had no committed but because they were women of color. A protest against Montgomery buses was planned, and it was the first to happen in Alabama. With these protests, Rosa was praised for taking her ground and fighting against discrimination of women of color which earned her state recognition by the then President of the United States (Stevenson).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the film paints a picture of the situation of women of color who are represented by Rosa, and the movement towards their liberation. The highlighted instances show how black women rights were violated by white people. In my view, if sociologists watch the movie, they would see a racist society. The would argue that black people are dominated by white people in all societal sectors. Their argument may be derived from the various instances that show black people being treated as inferiors by whites. One of the scenarios is when Rosa flashes back to her early years, and there is a tap for whites and another for blacks. A white man can be seen drinking from that which is indicated whites and then makes his dog drink from that of blacks (Stevenson). Watching this film without any purpose would be different because I would view the theme as plainly discrimination against black people unlike watching it in line with the topic of women and society where the main focus is on how black women were treated in a white-dominated society.

Works Cited

Stevenson, Darius. The Rosa Parks Story, YouTube, 2 Sept. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlnal8phaQY.