A Girl Named Rosa

Black and White

In Alabama, everywhere Rosa looked, things were segregated for black and white people. Black people had different bathrooms. They had different water fountains. Rosa wondered if the water in the white fountains tasted different somehow, but usually the two fountains spread from the same pipes.

Even though things weren’t fair, Rosa always obeyed the laws and never started any trouble, until once when she was walking along a Montgomery street. A white boy tried to knock her down, so she shoved him back. The boy ran to his mother who was standing nearby. Even after Rosa tried to explain, the mother threatened to have Rosa put in jail.

As Rosa grew older, she worked hard to keep racism from making her act out in anger again.