During the civil rights era, the amount of racial inequalities within society was immense. They ranged from the inability of African Americans to attend school with whites, to use the same drinking fountains, or even to travel in the same section on buses, to name a few. Many influential figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X fought to eliminate these inequalities. These influential figures had their own storyline that stood out in our history and made them what they are in the civil rights era. Even though they were very influential, they still couldn't take on the task alone. They were the leaders of their individual movement. Under the bus segregation system, whites were entitled to seats in the front rows of the bus while blacks occupied the back of the bus. When the buses were filled to capacity, all black passengers who boarded had to stand. In the event that a white man boarded when the bus was fully occupied, the black passenger closest to the front of the bus had to vacate his seat for him. It was not until December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man, that an outburst against this racial inequality occurred. This resulted in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Many African Americans followed this boycott, while others could not because they desperately needed it and because many could not afford to purchase their own vehicle. The bus business has lost a lot of money in Montgomery as most African Americans use buses to go to work, office, school, etc. On the educational front, one of the greatest racial segregations was that of schools. Black and white students participated in several...half of the paper......change the way America is today: one was the Rosa Park and Montgomery bus boycott and another was " Brown vs. Board". While these influential figures help a lot, they couldn't do it all without the support of other citizens. Overall, we have made America a better place to live for everyone. Works Cited: Chafe, William. Racial inequality in American history. 7th. 1. New York: Yahoo, 2010. Web. .Kirk, John A. “Racial Inequality in the Post-Civil Rights Era of the South.” Social Policy 42.2 (2012): 14-21. Premier of academic research. Network. December 11, 2012.Prewitt, Kenneth. “When social inequality is associated with demographic diversity, what will then happen to liberal democracies?” Social Research 77.1 (2010): 1-20. Premier of academic research. Network. December 11. 2012