Rosa Parks

One great example of a person who went against the law to stand up for what’s right is Rosa Parks. During her life, the civil rights act was not yet enabled, and blacks were segregated, discriminated, and prejudiced against. In fact, it was law that African-Americans had to sit in the back of the bus, where it was less comfortable and very bumpy. In addition, if a black person was asked to give up their seat by a white man or woman, they were required to do so. Clearly, this discrimination was unjust, and was only part of the unfair treatment that blacks endured under Jim Crow law.

Rosa Parks challenged the segregation laws one day by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on the bus. For committing this crime, she was arrested and fined $10, plus $4 legal fees. While her actual actions were brave, it was the Montgomery Bus Boycott that followed that was so successful in gaining civil rights for African-Americans.

In my opinion, Rosa Parks did the right thing by going against the law in order to stand up for what’s right. In fact, her incident is very similar to Susan B. Anthony’s in the fact that they were both blatantly going against the law in order to make an example of the current unjust laws that existed. If neither woman had done anything, the final outcome of what they were striving for may have almost certainly been different. Therefore, I think these are great examples of where even if theres obstacles in the way, standing up for what’s right can be very successful.

However, I say this with limits. There are some thing that you may think are right, but in reality it is better that they aren’t. For example, standing up for the legalization a country run by no laws may seem “right” in theory, but you most certainly won’t get far. There are many laws in place for a reason. On the other hand, the fact that these laws can be amended is what makes our country so great – changes can be made as necessary, a strategy that both Parks and Anthony both used to their advantage successfully.