What spurs the start of the civil rights movment in the 1950s?

Answer 1

One answer is that Rosa Parks defied existing social laws when she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in 1955. This triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott which was extremely successful. White people were discomfited by the loss of rider revenue and the need to drive their African-American "help" to and from work. The other extremely big spur to the Civil Rights Movement was the verdict of Brown vs. the Board of Education overturning the "separate but equal" legal doctrine still in place 90 years after the Civil War. While the effects weren't as widespread as the NAACP had hoped for, the decision made it clear that segregation and prejudice weren't going to be legal much longer. Then there were the Greensboro sit-ins, where black people sat at lunch counters peaceful despite being told that they wouldn't be served. Many of the reactions to these protests were seen on television and for the first time, the entire country could see what overt racism looked and sounded like.

Answer 2

Rosa Parks wouldn't give up her seat on the bus...