Call her “the woman who refused to get up,” but I’m sure Rosa Parks had no idea what her tired feet and frustrating treatment would lead to on December 1, 1955.
What became known as the Civil Rights movement was bound to start sooner or later. It was only a matter of time before blacks would reject all that “back of the bus” and “Whites Only” nonsense. In a country where they were paying taxes, too? Please. I’m surprised the movement didn’t hit America with full force 10-15 years earlier when black men were fighting for their country in WWII (see Against All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic).
December 1, 1955, was also the beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted about a year. Blacks refused to ride the buses in Montgomery, Alabama, until November 13, 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation on buses unconstitutional. Despite its embarrassing and often pathetic history, America is still, by far, the greatest country in the world, no matter what color you happen to be.
Parks and her husband Raymond didn’t have children, as far as I can tell from news accounts of her life. In a way, I suppose those she inspired to stand up to injustice were her offspring. Once people understand the power they have in a free country, the moral authority to demand justice, watch out. I once heard this line from a movie: “Change the way people think, and things will never be the same.”
Whatever her reasons that fateful day, I’m glad she decided to stay in her seat.
- Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies at 92
- Civil rights icon Rosa Parks dies at 92 (with video)
- Jim Crow Redux
- Truth Be Told
- Wikipedia
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Previous obituaries: Nipsey Russell, Johnnie Cochran, Ossie Davis, Johnny Carson, Shirley Chisholm, Rick James, Ronald Reagan and Superman.
Update II (10/26): After Instapundit linked last night, several bloggers tracked back to this post, and some of the trackbacks were caught in the spam filter. Sorry about that. I know the frustration. The following links will be the last I’ll include in this post, but you may continue to trackback and comment. Thanks!
Publius Pundit, Tel-Chai Nation, The Moderate Voice, Parableman, D.C. Thornton, Area417, My Right Mind, Texas Xtreme, PolitaKid, and brining up the rear, John, the blogger who designed the header graphic on my business blog.
Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies at 92
Rosa Lee Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the modern civil rights
Trackback by Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator — 10.25.05 @ 7:26 am
“Despite its embarrassing and often pathetic history, America is still, by far, the greatest country in the world, no matter what color you happen to be.”
A gracious remark from a gracious lady. Thank you and well said.
s/Uncle Sam
Comment by mikem — 10.25.05 @ 8:00 am
Rosa Parks
La Shawn Barber has an excellent post about the life of Rosa Parks. She includes lots of links.
Trackback by Polipundit — 10.25.05 @ 8:27 am
I had breakfast at a working-class diner in rural Eastern North Carolina this morning. This part of the state parallels the deep south, both economically, with nearly sea-level bottom land growing cotton and tobacco, and socially.
The eight or so men lining the counter and swapping stories in good southern style were in their fifties, two of them black. Other customers, black and white, stopped by with greetings. The stories were of good prices for bad cars, the most recently injured coworkers.
Thank you, Rosa.
Comment by Jeremy — 10.25.05 @ 8:31 am
The incident on the bus was actually a planned protest–she wasn’t just an average woman who was tired and just didn’t want to give up her seat. It was part of a larger civil rights plan that they were creating.
Comment by mj — 10.25.05 @ 8:43 am
Rosa Parks, RIP
A lifetime of courage was concentrated in that one word spoken to power. LaShawn Barber has a fitting tribute.
Trackback by Tapscott's Copy Desk — 10.25.05 @ 8:46 am
Even so, MJ, it was still a fateful day.
Comment by La Shawn — 10.25.05 @ 8:53 am
I’ve considered mj’s information ever since I learned of it a few years ago, and have decided it is meaningless, however true it may be. It might be worth mentioning in passing in the introduction to a course on Rosa Parks, but that does not take away from the power of her actions. It may only call into question the *degree* of courage it required, since she might have known she would have the power of a large organization behind her. She was an effective focal point of white injustice and black political power - more power to her. She was also something of a hottie, IMHO.
And y’know what, today I have a new perspective on the angry young men who drape themselves across public transit bus and train seats, and glare at whitey as he walks up hoping for a seat. They somehow imagine that they’re actually doing something valuable for their people, as Rosa Parks undebatably did. I wish they would - do something valuable for their people, that is. “Emulating Rosa Parks” should mean something besides refusing to let a white guy have a sit down in the year 2005.
Thank you, Sister Rosa - you were the spark.
B
Comment by Brian Jones — 10.25.05 @ 9:00 am
I was NOT criticizing Rosa Parks nor said that to diminish what she did–she was very brave! It took a lot of guts to do what she did–she went against a system that was totally against her. I just mentioned it because all the bios make it sound like it was just a coincidence that the movement was ignited after this incident, and she was a working gal who said, “enough is enough” because she was tired.
Comment by mj — 10.25.05 @ 9:05 am
ROSA PARKS, R.I.P.
A civil rights pioneer passes. Via Breitbart.com/AP: Rosa Lee Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the modern civil rights movement, died Monday. She was 92. Mrs. Parks died at her home of…
Trackback by Michelle Malkin — 10.25.05 @ 9:10 am
RIP Rosa Parks: Greatness Defined
On December 1, 1955, the history of the United States changed forever. The sad news of Rosa Parks’s passing yesterday has brought many to opine on just how important those actions were nearly 50 years ago.
It’s hard for me to put into words just h…
Trackback by Down with Absolutes! — 10.25.05 @ 9:11 am
mj, thanks for the clarification. I hope it is clear I was talking about the usefulness of the information, and the way it is sometimes insinuated that it detracts from her achievement. Heck, the Rita Dove hagiography that LaShawn links makes ample mention of these facts.
I’m sorry if it seemed as if I was including you among the insinuators. I’ve struggled with them for years.
Comment by Brian Jones — 10.25.05 @ 9:17 am
LaShawn Barber has a round-up of relevant links.
Pingback by Infinitely Prolonged — 10.25.05 @ 9:24 am
Rosa Parks, RIP
LaShawn Barber remembers Rosa Parks and rounds up the commentary…
Trackback by Power Line — 10.25.05 @ 9:50 am
Please keep in mind the power of the past fifty years (save a month) since Rosa Parks threw the switch on the modern civil rights age. It has been a rich and important history of struggle and accomplishment.
The previous fifty years began with Theodore Roosevelt bringing Booker T. Washington into the White House as an honored guest. It included the rise of jazz, the Harlem Renaissance, the Scottsboro Boys, lynchings, and a mass migration from the south to the north.
Rosa Parks was certainly the pivot point in the social history of the 20th century.
Comment by Heliotrope — 10.25.05 @ 9:53 am
I’m so glad to see you post on this topic.
Ms. Parks selfless act of quiet courage in the face of racism is an example we should all aspire to.
Comment by Mean Dean — 10.25.05 @ 9:54 am
Rosa Parks rest in peace. Whatever the background to her courageous refusal to stand, she started something big. I remember being impressed as a child watching the TV news footage of all those people walking instead of riding the bus.
Comment by Evon — 10.25.05 @ 9:54 am
La Shawn:
As a “Rich White Male”, I have most of the same memories of Rosa Parks as everyone else does.
No doubt Rosa Parks was NOT the first Black woman who refused to move to the back of the bus. Likewise, WG Morton was not the first doctor to administer ether anesthesia in 1846.
But Parks, an ordinary person, rehearsed and staged an event that DID get a lot of attention and WAS a major inspiration to many people.
Likewise, WG Morton rehearsed using ether on animals, colleagues, and even on himself. So when he staged a public anesthetic at Mass General Hospital in Boston on Oct 16, 1846, he introdued anesthesia to the world.
My most recent memory of Parks was the shameless man who sued a rapper using the copyrighted name “Rosa Parks” - “on behalf of Rosa Parks”.
In fact, at the time, Rosa Parks was suffering Alzheimer’s disease and was in no shape to sue anyone.
Much has been said about “staging”, but that’s how things are done.
Rosa Parks RIP
Comment by Frank Zavisca — 10.25.05 @ 9:59 am
Update: Read this too.
Pingback by Rajan Rishyakaran — 10.25.05 @ 10:00 am
Rosa Parks, RIP
Via Reuters: Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks dies
Rosa Parks, the black seamstress whose refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man sparked a revolution in American race relations, died on Monday. The U.S. civil rights p…
Trackback by PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science — 10.25.05 @ 10:04 am
Rosa Parks Dead At 92
We need to all be like Rosa Parks, not in the sense of demanding civil rights but in demanding a fair, just and accountable government…
Trackback by Truth Be Told — 10.25.05 @ 10:07 am
Ode to a Unique Champion
You said you weren’t physically tired that day
Like the popular story your historic act declares
You said you refused to give up the seat you paid for
Because of the injustice you experienced most everywhere
Sorry, It wouldn’t accept my trackback ping from Blogger…
Comment by JEHOAIDA — 10.25.05 @ 10:07 am
She stood up by sitting down
—– This gentle giant, whose quietness belied her toughness, became the catalyst for a movement that broke the back of legalized segregation in the United States, gave rise to the astounding leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and inspired fig…
Trackback by Legacy Matters™ — 10.25.05 @ 10:09 am
I can’t figure out this trackback stuff, too old I guess. At elgintyrell.com todays photorial is dedicated to Mrs. Parks entitled, “From the back of the bus to the front of the line”….Welcome home Miss Parks.
Comment by Esbiem — 10.25.05 @ 10:12 am
In a truly great country it wouldn’t be “politically incorrect” to discuss the details of this particular event (planned political action) or to note Rosa Parks’ politics (socialist). Rather, we could feel free to place Rosa Parks properly in the context of her time and appreciate her actions as both a call for civil rights AND for an economic system that the majority of Americans do now reject.
Comment by Jake — 10.25.05 @ 10:13 am
One of the saddest moments I’ve ever seen in movies comes in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” if I remember correctly. A black man is trying to straighten out a teen who’s behaving poorly. He finally tells the teen something like, “Rosa Parks did not get on that bus so you could act like this!”
And the teen replies, “Who’s Rosa Parks?”
This is a day to answer that question for a new generation.
Comment by Van Wallach — 10.25.05 @ 10:13 am
A seat in heaven
Rosa Parks, whose refusal to go along with one of Jim Crow’s more asinine decrees helped to precipitate the American civil-rights movement in 1955, has died in Detroit at the…
Trackback by dustbury.com — 10.25.05 @ 10:18 am
LaShawn Barber pays tribute: “Whatever her reasons that fateful day, I’m glad she decided to stay in her seat.”
Pingback by Project Nothing! — 10.25.05 @ 10:23 am
Aldon Morris–in “The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement”:
“In the 1940s Mrs. Parks had refused several times to comply with segregation rules on the buses. In the early 1940s Mrs. Parks was ejected from a bus for failing to comply. The very same bus driver who ejected her that time was the one who had her arrested on December 1, 1955…She began serving as secretary for the local NAACP in 1943 and still held that post when arrested in 1955…In the early 1940s Mrs. Parks organized the local NAACP Youth Council…During the 1950s the youth in this organization attempted to borrow books from a white library. They also took rides and sat in the front seats of segregated buses, then returned to the Youth Council to discuss their acts of defiance with Mrs. Parks.”
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/10/25/34313/055
Comment by Zorro — 10.25.05 @ 10:42 am
Rosa Parks Dies At Age 92
CNN is reporting that Rosa Parks has died at the age of 92.
Rosa Parks, who helped trigger the civil rights movement in the 1950s, died Monday, her longtime friends told CNN. She was 92.
Parks inspired the civil rights movement when she refused to g
Trackback by Iowa Voice — 10.25.05 @ 10:45 am
What Rosa Parks Meant to a Gen-X White Yankee Girl
Rosa Parks was a hero to the civil rights movement. But she was also a hero to a white, middle class, Gen-Xer from Pittsburgh - me.
Rosa Parks was one of my heroes because she epitomized what it meant to be courageous and dignified.
Trackback by B Relevant — 10.25.05 @ 10:48 am
Rosa Parks was proof that anyone can make a difference. She didn’t wait for someone else to speak up. She didn’t wait for someone else to act. She demonstrated tremendous courage, and through her courage created a steamroller of change that impacted our country greatly. Thank you, Rosa. We mourn your passing.
Comment by Curt Dalaba — 10.25.05 @ 11:10 am
Rosa Parks, 1913-2005
LaShawn has a nice remembrance.
Trackback by RightFaith — 10.25.05 @ 11:15 am
Rosa Parks, R.I.P.
Race and identity politics have deteriorated into little more than buffonery, but it was only a half-century ago that acts of great personal courage and moral conviction were necessary to bring an end to a deeply unjust system of racial discrimination…
Trackback by Right We Are — 10.25.05 @ 11:20 am
Rosa Parks: One person CAN make a difference
One simple act of nonviolent, civil disobedience became a catalyst that changed a nation. Rosa Parks was the proverbial David standing up against Goliath. A black woman, prescribed by the predominantly white society as a second-class citizen, by a si…
Trackback by The Subjective Scribe — 10.25.05 @ 11:24 am
Rosa Parks leaves the path
Rosa Parks died yesterday. (Hat tip La Shawn Barber.) Her act of defiance changed our country forever.
Trackback by Severe Writer's Block — 10.25.05 @ 11:26 am
Rosa Parks, RIP
Rosa Parks — that name instantly conjures intense feelings and images for me. Her famous, courageous act of defiance in 1955 was followed by many years of dignified activism. She was an altogether admirable person.
I was only three years old i…
Trackback by JamulBlog — 10.25.05 @ 11:29 am
LaShawn has a nice tribute and lots of links.
Pingback by The Anchoress — 10.25.05 @ 11:36 am
Rest in peace dear Rosa. Read La Shawn Barber’s Corner on Rosa Parks, 1913-2005
Pingback by RandyThomas.info — 10.25.05 @ 11:44 am
God rest Rosa Parks
An icon has passed:
Rosa Parks, the black woman whose 1955 arrest for saying “no” to an order to give her bus seat to a white man served as a catalyst for the U.S. civil-rights movement, died today. She was 92.
Trackback by Brutally Honest — 10.25.05 @ 11:45 am
Rosa Parks passes away at age 92
Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dead At 92
Trackback by Independent Conservative — 10.25.05 @ 11:53 am
The day I start talking about segregation, Rosa Parks passes away. Call her “the woman who refused to get up,” but I’m sure Rosa Parks had no idea what her tired feet and frustrating treatment would lead to on December 1, 1955. … December 1, 1955, was also the beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted about a year. Blacks refused to ride the buses in Montgomery, Alabama, until November 13, 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation on buses unconstitutional. Despite its embarrassing and often pathetic history, America is still, by far, the greatest country in the world, no matter what color you happen to be.
Pingback by Agent Tim Online — 10.25.05 @ 12:12 pm
Death of a Legend
Rosa Parks died yesterday at the ripe old age of 92. Just a few weeks short of the 50th anniversary of that fateful bus ride which sparked a boycott that brought Jim Crow to its knees.
Trackback by Uncle Sam's Cabin — 10.25.05 @ 12:13 pm
LaShawn,
In 1875 the Republican Party in Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which guaranteed the rights of all African Americans equal access to all public services and facilities. This was the vision of the Republican Party from the very beginning. It was founded in 1854 as the anti-slavery party and it has always been the party of civil rights.
Unfortunately, a rogue Supreme Court declared the act to be unconstitutional, effectively derailing further Republican attempts to create an equal and just society. The Democratic Party in the southern states embarked upon a pogrom against African Americans in an effort to deny them their civil rights and to keep them out of the political process. The Democrats invented poll taxes, Jim Crow laws, and the KKK which became the terrorist wing of the party. Through these vehicles the Democrats succeeded in denying African Americans equal access and civil rights for the next century.
Had the Republican vision been carried forward to completion, Rosa Parks would not have had to challenge Democrat racism on that bus in 1955. She would have been raised in an environment where her civil rights would have been enshrined in law some 80 years prior.
Below are the first 2 paragraphs of the Civil Rights Act of 1875:
“Whereas it is essential to just government we recognize the equality of all men before the law, and hold that it is the duty of government in its dealings with the people to mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion, religious or political; and it being the appropriate object of legislation to enact great fundamental principles into law: Therefore,
Be it enacted, That all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement; subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law, and applicable alike to citizens of every race and color, regardless of any previous condition of servitude.”
Imagine where our country would be right now if this Act had not be struck down?
God bless Rosa Parks. We tried and we were defeated. I am sorry that we failed you. I am sorry that your rights were not guaranteed 80 years before when they should have been.
Sincerely,
Laurence
Comment by Laurence — 10.25.05 @ 12:16 pm
a friend blog on her too.
http://mudpond.blogspot.com/2005/10/rosa-parks-dies.html
Comment by lucia — 10.25.05 @ 12:16 pm
Rosa Parks: 1913-2005
She was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913. Her marriage to Raymond Parks lasted from 1932 until his death in 1977.
Parks’ father, James McCauley, was a carpenter, and her mother, Leona Edwards McCauley, a teach…
Trackback by Crime Scene Blog — 10.25.05 @ 12:17 pm
RIP, Rosa Parks
Via AP:
DETROIT — Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the modern civil rights movement, died Monday evening. She was 92.
Mrs. Parks died at her home during the evening of natural causes, with close friends by…
Trackback by Sister Toldjah — 10.25.05 @ 12:17 pm
Here is a link to my post.
Comment by Stephen — 10.25.05 @ 12:19 pm
Rosa Parks RIP
Trackback by Secular Blasphemy — 10.25.05 @ 12:32 pm
The legacy of Rosa Parks
Sadly, in only one generation many of us have completely forgotten what it took for Rosa Parks to do what she did. We’ve forgotten that in the history of many people alive today is the memory of a time in this country where you could be beaten and ja…
Trackback by One Voice Now — 10.25.05 @ 12:39 pm
Who Was Rosa Parks?
There’s a whole generation of kids who don’t know about this lady, whose earthly life ended today. For the non-homeschoolers, La Shawn Barber begins the education process.
Trackback by DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS — 10.25.05 @ 12:40 pm
Rosa Parks, RIP
La Shawn Barber has a nice post about the passing of Rosa Parks.
Trackback by Don Singleton — 10.25.05 @ 12:44 pm
Rosa Parks Remembered
While today is a day to celebrate her life and her contributions to the Civil Rights movement, I fear that certain “de facto” leaders of the black community will use Rosa Parks’ memory in vain, and launch unfounded race-baiting attacks that have reg…
Trackback by Pardon My English: Conservative News & Opinion — 10.25.05 @ 12:57 pm
Mrs. Parks was well aware of what would come in the wake of her refusal to give up her seat. She was an active member of the NAACP and there was a plan in place that was the Montgomery Bus Boycott.It was the leadership of a young African American preacher, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who forged the plan that would bring the racist in Montgomery to heel with respect to public accomodations. “Power,” as Frederick Douglass said to the Seneca Falls convention of 1846, “concedes nothing, not without a protest or demonstration of resolve to oppose it.”
Comment by Richard — 10.25.05 @ 12:59 pm
Rosa Parks Dead At 92
Parks, 92, reportedly died around 7 p.m. Monday at St. John Hospital on Detroit’s east side.
Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955 landed her in jail and sparked a bus boycott that is conside…
Trackback by Stop The ACLU — 10.25.05 @ 1:04 pm
Rosa Parks has died
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Rosa Parks is dead (link via Dean’s World). UPDATE: CNN has it as well. UPDATE3: Wikipedia entry UPDATE2: Many bloggers are posting their thoughts: Rand Simberg:Her bravery moved many Americans to the
Trackback by Stackable Bards — 10.25.05 @ 1:24 pm
Honoring Rosa Parks
Today died Rosa Parks. I’d like to honor and celebrate her life in gratitude. I’m thankful for her example of living with integrity and for being a catalyst for change. There’s a great post in La Shawn Barber’s Corner.
Trackback by Your Pastoral Coach — 10.25.05 @ 1:29 pm
In thinking of Rosa Parks and the struggle for freedom in this country, I can’t help but reflect upon the hypocrisy inherent when one black person tells another: “you aren’t black!†I’ve heard that I an not Black enough because I don’t handle the proper slang, and because I don’t limit the women I will date to one ethnicity. I hear kids regularly taunted as “trying to be white†because they are bookworms or like rock music. I wonder if on a bus ride just before Rosa Parks’ renown experience, if two young blacks had been seated in the fron of the bus and told to move for the sake of two white riders, and one told the driver of the bus “He doesn’t have to move ‘cause he isn’t really black; he listens to the wrong music.†if that driver would’ve immediately stopped and apologized for the misunderstanding.
Comment by Mark La Roi — 10.25.05 @ 1:37 pm
A Civil Rights icon died yesterday. Rosa Parks was 92, and was 50 years beyond taking a stand that changed America.
Pingback by The Right Track — 10.25.05 @ 1:55 pm
The Power of Rosa Parks
The passing of Rosa Parks was a poignant reminder about the power of one.
Trackback by LeaderNotes.com — 10.25.05 @ 2:04 pm
Rosa Parks Dead at 92!What Has Happened To Her Leg
Rosa Parks died today. She was 92. Parks was the civil rights leader who refused to move to the back of the bus and was arrested for disorderly conduct. It set off a firestorm that began the modern civil rights era that would see the end of Jim Crow….
Trackback by Oblogatory Anecdotes — 10.25.05 @ 2:08 pm
The passing of Rosa Parks was a poignant reminder about the power of one.
One person sitting down for moral authority
One person standing up for truth
One woman
Rosa Parks
Comment by Hal Halladay — 10.25.05 @ 2:11 pm
Prior to Rosa defying the Jim Crow bus rules in Mongomery, several other had, including MLK’s predessessor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the unherolded hero, Vernon Johns.
You will really love how Dexter’s board members responded to their PhD pastor getting arrested for upsetting the crackers: they got very mad at him. In deference to their anger, he did stop defying the bus rule, but only with a new action that upset them even more: he started walking, rather than riding the bus (either refusing to buy a car, or to drive his), and preaching (quite unsuccessfully) that everybody else should follow him, with this truly scandelous proposal: if all blacks saved and pooled their bus money, the cracker-owned private bus line would belly-up, and have to sell their fleet (at fire sale prices!)… to, guess who?
This idea was much more revolutionary than MLK’s tamer proposal: boycott until the cracker bus company faces bankrupcy, then end the boycott (and save the cracker-owned line) if the crackers agree to end the Jim Crow seating rule. Imagine if the black folks instead of winning the right to sit where they pleased on a honkey-owned bus, they instead started owning the buses, which honkies had to pay black folks in order ride!
A similar problem attended the Jackie Robinson “integration” of MLB. What the black folks really wanted was to have their black-owned and -managed teams absored into MBL as expansion teams, with black and white owners buying and selling each others’ players. Instead, people like Jackie sold-out that plan, got themselves individually richer, at the expense the many more black players, managers, coaches, consessioneers, accountants, etc., who lost jobs when the Negro League collapse due to star players getting plucked into MLB.
I don’t view the Mongomery Bus Boycott, or the Jackie Robinson story, as quite the victories that they should have been.
Comment by Paul Philpott — 10.25.05 @ 2:22 pm
Rosa Parks dead at 92
Just caught this one on the evening news: civil rights matron Rosa Parks has died at the age of 92. Her simple act of defiance ignited the modern civil rights movement. On December 1, 1955, a long work day behind
Trackback by Mike's Noise — 10.25.05 @ 2:57 pm
Not a plant, although it doesn’t matter.
From her obituary in the New York Times:
Over the years myth tended to obscure the truth about Mrs. Parks. One legend had it that she was a cleaning woman with bad feet who was too tired to drag herself to the rear of the bus. Another had it that she was a “plant” by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The truth, as she later explained, was that she was tired of being humiliated, of having to adapt to the byzantine rules, some codified as law and others passed on as tradition, that reinforced the position of blacks as something less than full human beings.
“She was fed up,” said Elaine Steele, a longtime friend and executive director of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. “She was in her 40’s. She was not a child. There comes a point where you say, ‘No, I’m a full citizen, too. This is not the way I should be treated.’ “
Comment by trenchcoat — 10.25.05 @ 3:05 pm
La Shawn Barber pens an obituary of Rosa Parks and keeps a blog directory of related posts.
Pingback by WordPress Politics — 10.25.05 @ 3:07 pm
I read today that she said the ‘tired feet’ thing wasn’t a factor on that historical day. It apparently was some urban legend that got made up along the way. But small matter. She’s a darling, brave lady and has her place in history. Rest in peace, Rosa.
Comment by Michele — 10.25.05 @ 3:12 pm
Another Titan gone. You will be missed Rosa….
Comment by keto — 10.25.05 @ 3:15 pm
I have a question as a Christian. Can someone point out to me where the Bible condones - Civil Disobedience? As is well-recorded in history and spoken here, after Ms. Parks’ arrest black folk decided to boycott - why wasn’t that done from the jump?
Comment by ZIPLA — 10.25.05 @ 3:29 pm
Rosa Parks dies at 92
May her soul rest in peace. Rosa’s legacy is almost beyond words. Her action in 1955 — refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man who demanded it (and legally, believe it or not, was “entitled” to…
Trackback by The Colossus of Rhodey — 10.25.05 @ 3:37 pm
ZIPLA,
You ask an interesting question. It’s not so much the civil disobedience that comes to mind (in regards to the bible)…
it’s the unholy alliances with feminist, homosexuals and others that perplexes me. Yes “we” gained but were hearts really changed in the process (and was the destruction of the black family …. shoot THE FAMILY PERIOD really worth it)??
I think we forgot to read the fine print on the contract.
Just some thoughts
Comment by Renee — 10.25.05 @ 3:42 pm
Renee,
Exactly! Can you clarify for me - “what we gained”? Yes I understand that the Boycott was a boon to the Civil Rights Movement but, we lost more because we began to look to the Government to solve our woes versus leaning on the Lord and crying out to him. Not to say that we shouldn’t have “voiced” our displeasures against the violations of our Constitutional Rights.
Comment by ZIPLA — 10.25.05 @ 4:12 pm
ZIPLA - What happened with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (and others like it) offer an excellent example of civil disobedience. They were obedient up until the point king Nebuchadnezzar attempted to make them worship someone other than God. They then refused. What we can draw from that and its supporting examples is that we are to obey the laws of man until the come into conflict with the clear will of God.
I myself wrestled with this for a while. Looking at individual acts of the civil rights movement for themselves, and asking if they were supported by scriptural precedent. Some were, some weren’t. To be honest, although I am glad that this event occured, I can’t call it on this one.
So yes, certain civil disobedience is evidenced in Scripture, in obedience to God. We just have to be very careful of our reasons for it.
Comment by Mark La Roi — 10.25.05 @ 4:16 pm
Rosa Parks
Whenever you are told that one person can’t make a difference, think of Rosa Parks. You don’t have to be loud or wealthy or well-educated to make a difference in this world, you just have to be “tired of giving in” as Mrs. Parks wa
Trackback by Mrs. Happy Housewife — 10.25.05 @ 4:26 pm
I could go on about her, but our good friend LaShawn Barber has done a fantastic job with lots of links.
Pingback by Scared Monkeys — 10.25.05 @ 4:28 pm
Rosa Parks 1913-2005
“Rosa Parks, the dignified African American seamstress whose refusal to surrender a bus seat to a white man launched the…
Trackback by Stein Report — 10.25.05 @ 4:41 pm
La Shawn,
I think it would be helpful to link to Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, which is a critical document not only in the history of the civil rights movement, but to non-violent protest. It is in many places, here is one:
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
Much discussion could be had taking this document and understanding Rosa Parks.
Matt
Comment by Matt Brach — 10.25.05 @ 4:59 pm
La Shawn Barber on Rosa Parks
La Shawn Barber seems to be the lead blogger commemorating the life of Rosa Parks.
Trackback by Amy Ridenour's National Center Blog — 10.25.05 @ 5:12 pm
La Roi,
Thanks for reminding me of where civil disobedience would be condoned biblically. So I guess my question should have been is Rosa Parks’ actions condoned in the bible?
Comment by ZIPLA — 10.25.05 @ 5:43 pm
May God Rest Rosa’s Soul
Today, a civil rights pioneer has passed away. She was right to stand her ground against laws that made her sit in the back of the bus because of her skin color.
Trackback by Republican Jen — 10.25.05 @ 5:57 pm
“Despite its embarrassing and often pathetic history, America is still, by far, the greatest country in the world, no matter what color you happen to be.” Exactly, La Shawn.
Reminiscent of Winston Churchill’s “democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.” God helps those who help themselves.
Comment by Sissy Willis — 10.25.05 @ 6:14 pm
Race and the Unconscious II: The Tuskegee Airmen
Rosa Parks, 1913-2005, has died. Most Americans know her story, how she refused to get up and give up her seat on the bus, which she was legally required to do; the Montgomery bus boycott followed, Martin Luther King Jr
Trackback by ShrinkWrapped — 10.25.05 @ 6:18 pm
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks, a true American hero, is dead at 92. See LaShawn Barber for a wrap-up of blog posts. Abraham Lincoln’s description of Harriet Beecher Stowe as the little lady who started the Civil War is probably apocryphal, but it…
Trackback by Discriminations.us — 10.25.05 @ 6:23 pm
Rosa Parks: American Hero, 1913-2005
…As someone who has had the pleasure of living in the Deep South, it is nothing short of mandatory that I tip my hat to the exemplary and commendable life and work of Rosa Parks and others like her. I used to live near Savannah Georgia, and what I sa…
Trackback by Holstein Grove — 10.25.05 @ 6:46 pm
Renee, Mark and Zipla,
One seminary professor suggested that following the principles and processes used for the “just war” concept would be a one way to approach whether a specific act of “civil disobedience” was justified.
Comment by Evon — 10.25.05 @ 7:01 pm
Rosa Parks, R.I.P.
Thanks to her, my generation does not have to deal with a segregated world. For that, PolitaKid salutes Rosa Parks.
La Shawn Barber is keeping tabs on the blogosphere’s reaction to Parks’ death.
Trackback by PolitaKid — 10.25.05 @ 8:04 pm
La Shawn Barber’s Corner » Rosa Parks, 1913-2005
Pingback by TexasXtreme — 10.25.05 @ 8:29 pm
A DECLARATION FOR ROSA PARKS, DEAD AT 92
Whereas, You have inspired the modern civil rights movement by refusing to give your seat to a white man in opposition to the laws of the day in Montgomery, Alabama on December, 1 1955.
Whereas, Your arrest for said act of defiance not only lead t…
Trackback by My Right Mind! — 10.25.05 @ 8:40 pm
Rosa Parks Dies
Rosa Parks died at her home on Monday. She was 92 years-old. Ms. Parks will forever be remembered for standing up against prejudice (no pun intended) by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man
Trackback by Area417 — 10.25.05 @ 9:03 pm
Rosa Lee Parks, R.I.P.
“December 1, 1955, our freedom movement came alive. And because of Sister Rosa you know, we don’t ride on the back of the bus no more.”
Trackback by dcthornton.com — 10.25.05 @ 9:09 pm
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks is dead. See discussions by some of the Conservative Brotherhood: Sam, La Shawn Barber, Baldilocks, and Booker Rising [technically, La Shawn is now for some reason listed as emeritus in the Brotherhood, but she was a founding member]….
Trackback by Parableman — 10.25.05 @ 10:02 pm
Rosa Parks, 92, Passes Away
Yahoo! News has the story from …
Trackback by The Moderate Voice — 10.25.05 @ 10:07 pm
The end of an era has come. Rosa Parks, the celebrated matriarch of the black civil rights movement has died at age 92. Check LaShawn Barber’s commentary on her life and works.
Comment by DL Foster — 10.25.05 @ 11:06 pm
Rosa Lee Parks, 1931-2005
Rosa Parks, one of the pioneers of the civil rights movement for minorities, who’s famous for her refusal to vacate her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus at the time they were running discriminatory laws against blacks in the southern states, has pas…
Trackback by Tel-Chai Nation — 10.26.05 @ 12:19 am
Via Instapundit, the splendid La Shawn Barber has a great roundup of all the news through the blogosphere on the great Rosa Parks.
Pingback by Publius Pundit — 10.26.05 @ 2:13 am
I just heard something else today. John Carlson on his Seattle radio show told how Rosa Parks was robbed about 10 yrs. ago by some druggie looking for drug money. When all she gave him was $52, he beat her up! What kinda jerk does this to a defenseless 81 yr old woman?? Apparently he was black, too. He blamed it on ‘the drugs’. I wonder why this incident was not widely publicized? Poor Rosa!
That’s true. I remember when it happened. The kind of criminal idiot who’d do that isn’t a man; he’s an immoral thug who should be rotting in jail. - Admin
Comment by Michele — 10.26.05 @ 3:00 am
Progress Since Rosa Parks Made Her Move?
Now the easy way out is to read about Rosa Parks’ death and the Civil Rights movement and to say, oh, that was a long time ago and life is vastly different today. And THAT would be a lie. A
Trackback by scoopstories — 10.26.05 @ 7:22 am
Rosa Parks, RIP
Montgomery, Alabama police arrested Rosa Parks in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. It matters little that Parks wasn’t the first black person to refuse a seat to a white person….
Trackback by Flynn Files — 10.26.05 @ 8:07 am
Gonna be a long day!
Today’s dose of NIF - News, Interesting & Funny … a simple Wednesday edition (+ open trackbacks)
Trackback by NIF — 10.26.05 @ 8:30 am
Rosa Parks did the south a tremendous service to both blacks everywhere and whites in the south. Her courage inspired blacks everywhere to take control of their lives away from whites and assume the full role of citizen. It freed the whites of the south of living an obscene life of cruelty to their fellow man and we are glad to be free of it. Unfortunately it did nothing for the whites of the north who used the blatant wrong-doing of southern whites to deflect attention from their own. As a result we still have racial hatred in Detroit, Howard Beaches in New York City and northern unions virtually closed to blacks.
Comment by Digitalbrownshirt — 10.26.05 @ 8:38 am
UPDATE: LaShawn Barber has this collection of Parks posts.
Pingback by There is no law ... only power, politics and money — 10.26.05 @ 9:50 am
Miss Rosa
We are a better people today because of her courage. Have we eradicated racism? Sadly, no but thanks to Rosa, we’re a little bit closer.
Trackback by Blessings & Other Stuff — 10.26.05 @ 10:47 am
One seminary professor suggested that following the principles and processes used for the “just war†concept would be a one way to approach whether a specific act of “civil disobedience†was justified.
Comment by Evon — 10.25.05 @ 7:01 pm
~What are those processes?
Comment by Mark La Roi — 10.26.05 @ 1:23 pm
Taking a seat for justice
As we celebrate the unique contributions made by Rosa Parks, I’d like to highlight this interview with Parks published ten years ago by Christianity Today.
R.I.P.
UPDATE: LaShawn Barber has a great roundup of reaction to Ms. Parks’ passing….
Trackback by Commonwealth Conservative — 10.26.05 @ 1:34 pm
[…] TODAY’S MUST READ: Rosa Parks, 1913-2005 La Shawn has a biography of Parks and many, many links. […]
Pingback by The Political Teen » Quick Hits 10/26 — 10.26.05 @ 2:18 pm
Rest in peace. This seemingly simple act of defiance inpsired generations of good people, black and white, to confront racism. Godspeed and God bless, Ms. Parks. We are a better nation for you and your simple act.
Comment by JB — 10.26.05 @ 2:47 pm
Leiter on the Morally Reprehensible
Injustice is not primarily a property of systems, but a property of judgments and other actions. I think it is safe to say that willful injustice is morally reprehensible. And so Brian Leiter’s ridiculous package-dealing smear against “conservatives,…
Trackback by Will Wilkinson / The Fly Bottle — 10.26.05 @ 2:51 pm
Thanks for the post on this subject La Shawn.
I think it is important to note that although most Americans today herald Ms. Parker’s courageous stand. At the time when all of this was happening she was considered a large number of Americans to be a trouble making radical. Even some of the more conservative of her own race. This is quite similar to the way Martin Luther King Jr. as well as Muhammad Ali. were viewed as opposed to how they are now viewed. It is amazing how time and outcome can transform the minds of people. I might add the popularity of a stance is not always the measure of the worthiness of a goal.
Comment by Kevin — 10.26.05 @ 3:01 pm
Setting the Stage for Rosa Parks
Many are the tributes to Rosa Parks today. But it is of import to remember the man who came before her: Homer Plessy.
Trackback by Bloggin Outloud — 10.26.05 @ 5:20 pm
Great post LaShawn. God bless Rosa Parks and what she did that day. It brought about justice that was long overdue!!
Jim C
Comment by Jim C — 10.26.05 @ 6:38 pm
Rosa Parks T-Shirt and Gift Ideas
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Comment by Rosa Parks T-Shirts — 10.27.05 @ 10:52 am
Rosa Parks, the woman who helped fire up the Montgomery Bus Boycott in December of 1955, died on Monday. There’s been a lot written about her life and work this week. I don’t have anything new to add, but I did want to mention today’s Roanoke Times story about Margie Jumper, a woman who also refused to give up her seat on a bus. Jumper’s incident took place in Roanoke in 1946, though, almost 10 years before Parks’ famous stand (or lack thereof).
Pingback by There’s Nothing to do Here — 10.27.05 @ 11:58 am