“I have been refused entrance on the buses because I would not pay my fare at the front and go around to the rear door to enter. That was the custom if the bus was crowded up to the point where the white passengers would start occupying.”
- February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005
- American
- Civil Rights Activist, Symbol of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
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Quote
“I have been refused entrance on the buses because I would not pay my fare at the front and go around to the rear door to enter. That was the custom if the bus was crowded up to the point where the white passengers would start occupying.”
Explanation
In this quote, Rosa Parks recounts a humiliating custom under Jim Crow segregation that forced Black passengers to pay their fare at the front of the bus and then re-enter through the back, often resulting in being stranded if the bus drove off. Her refusal to comply with this routine was a rejection of an everyday indignity imposed to reinforce racial hierarchy. The word “custom” reveals how such dehumanizing practices were normalized in public life.
Historically, this practice exemplified the deeply ingrained social codes of segregation, especially in the American South. Even outside of formal laws, unwritten rules dictated behavior and reinforced the second-class status of African Americans. Parks’ experience illustrates how resistance was not always dramatic but often expressed through quiet refusals to accept degrading treatment in mundane situations like riding the bus.
Today, this quote serves as a reminder of how systemic injustice can be embedded in routine behaviors. Parks’ stance highlights the power of saying no—even in moments that seem small. Her story encourages modern society to examine everyday practices that reinforce exclusion or inequality, and to challenge customs that deny people dignity, even if they are long-standing or widely accepted.
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