CLAUDETTE: One of them said to the driver in a very
angry tone, “Who is it?" The motorman pointed at me. I
heard him say, “That's nothing new... I've had trouble
with that 'thing before." He called me a "thing." They
came to me and stood over me and one said, “Aren't you
going to get up?" I said, “No, sir." He shouted "Get up"
again. I started crying, but I felt even more defiant. I kept
saying over and over, in my high-pitched voice, “It's my
constitutional right to sit here as much as that lady. I paid
my fare, it's my constitutional right!" I knew I was talking
back to a white policeman, but I had had enough.
-Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice,
Once the author switches from third-person point of
view to first-person point of view, what do we leam
about Claudette?
O She knew that the bus driver would support her.
O She didn't feel like fighting back anymore and
started to cry
She knew it was dangerous to talk back to a white
police officer.
She felt sure that her high-pitched voice would
scare the officers.