Why was the white bus driver so adamant about making Rosa Parks sit in the back of the bus?

Question

I mean what's the big deal? She wanted to sit in the front and she got the seat first. Why was he being so uptight about it?

Answer 1

read a book.

Answer 2

Um hello?  Segregation and racism was a big part of society in those times.  That was how people were raised then.

Answer 3

Did you flunk history in school? Get a book or google the subject and learn about what "the big deal" was.

Answer 4

Stupidity on the bus drivers part. I'm glad to see that you feel that way though. Black, white, Mexican who cares. If I was to see someone dieing in the street I'm not going to worry about color or race, I'm going to do my dam* best to save that humans life...

Answer 5

That was the law back in the day.  Separate but equal.  Pretty pathetic. Separate drinking fountains, bathrooms, schools.  There was nothing equal about it.

Answer 6

That was not the socially accepted place for a black woman at that time.

Answer 7

Sign of the times. Law of the land. Law of the city at the time. By the way the bus is at Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. She (And all Blacks) said "No More" being treated like second class and the fight was on. Good for Rosa Parks.............."Over look that man "Patrick's answer". He sometimes gets that way with his replies.

Answer 8

because, times were different then.  Segregation was big and one of the rules was: non-whites in the back of the bus, whites in the front.  Rosa Parks sat in the front, was told to move, she said no, they escorted her off of the bus.  Thanks to her bravery, people can sit wherever they want now.

Answer 9

Racism.

Answer 10

OMG... Reading... have you not read about it? The Bus Driver was following the "law" of the land. I would GUESS he was a racist, but, I can't say for sure, since I wasn't there. You have to put it all in context. That's just the way it was. You didn't rock the boat, You didn't question it. Ms. Parks not only questioned it, but refused to be treat as a 2nd class citizen.

Answer 11

Just a racist pig. It's still that way in some parts of the country.

Answer 12

because back then white people were ignorant!!

Answer 13

In that day and time it was illegal for black people to ride in the front of the bus.  Read some of the history on this country, it's absolutely fascinating.

Answer 14

because he was a mest up racist loser

Answer 15

We were a segregated society then and if I remember right it was actually law that she had to give up her seat if a white person asked.

Answer 16

In part, it was the culture of that area at the time.  African-Americans (blacks) were considered second-class citizens, if they were considered anything at all.  They were considered to be worth less than Caucasian (white) people and some even seemed to think that they carried diseases or something of the sort.  Just going off faint memories of what was covered in the history classes I took.

Answer 17

At this time there were big differences between the colour of peoples skin. White people were seen as more important than black people and a lot of racism took place. For instance if a car was driving on a narrow road with black passengers and another car came driving down which had white passengers the car with the black passengers would have to reverse to let the other car drive. There were also separate schools for the children as white and black students were not aloud to mix. Because the bus driver was white he thought he had full authority over Rosa Parks and it was also the law at the time that if a white citizen were to get on a bus and all the seats were taken then a black citizen would have to give up there seat. This is why the bus driver was being so uptight about this and i think it was completely wrong on how people were treated so differently because of the colour of their skin.

I hope this helped you a lot.

Answer 18

Because it was the law at the time. Black people were forbidden by law to sit in the front of a bus. The driver didn't want to break the law. It was a totally stupid law, of course. But that was the way things were back then.

Answer 19

i think you need to go back to elementary school so u can know why it was suck a big deal....

Answer 20

I don't think it was just that one bus driver, it was the law at that time.  And it wasn't just Rosa that the law applied to.

Answer 21

At that point in history black Americans were discriminated against by being segregated from using public washrooms ,sitting areas in eating establishments,and many other things.Very disgusting time in American history.

Answer 22

Sweetheart:

Rosa Parks was in the back of the bus.  She was in the "front part of the segregated black part of the bus.  The bus was crowded and the driver wanted her to get up and give a white man her seat.  She refused.  Jim Crow was the custom in the south and that equated to disrespect to everyone black including the elderly.  I hope we've learned better now.

Answer 23

Are you really asking this??

have you by any chance read any books that talk about racism????

Answer 24

because she was black.

Answer 25

Because the attitude back then was that black people were "second-class" citizens and that they were not fit to mingle or associate with "their betters"...

Of course we now know that this elitest attitude is stupid, wrong and completely unacceptable.

Unfortunately at the time this event occurred, this was the prevalent opinion of the caucasian majority. Lincoln may have freed the slaves, but he could not change the opinions of people who felt that being black meant being inferior.

Now we know that idiots come in all races, shades and colours... *grin*