On the evening of December 1, 1955, Rosa  Parks, an African
American, was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black passengers  to  relinquish seats to white passengers when the bus was full. Blacks also were required  to sit at the back of the bus. Her arrest sparked a 381-day boycott of  the Montgomery bus system and led to a 1956 Supreme Court decision banning segregation on public transportation.