Of course I believe it, she's been one of my 10 year old hero's for about 3 years or so. A great example to my child of a strong woman that refused to back down no matter what the cost.
Excellent role model for anyone. She'll be missed. Kelly and I have followed her health and life and are saddened by this loss.
Gosh...My eyes well up with tears over this news. This was a simple woman who did somethong great. She was expected to give up her seat on the bus because she was black...she had the audacity to say "NO" and go to jail for it.
When she took this action, she had no idea that her name would go on to represent standing up against injustice and that her actions would be a catalyst for the civil rights movement. She simply thought she was going to jail for her civil disobedience...God rest her soul.
And I can fathom a whole lot that I don't agree with. I can fathom why schools were segregated back in the 50's... blacks weren't on the same level as whites (like duh, the black schools weren't properly funded) and lily white folks really didn't want their precious chil'ren associating with negros. But OK... I can fathom it. I can fathom separate white and colored restrooms because blacks weren't as clean as whites. Like duh again... blacks weren't paid a living wage and many didn't even have running water in their homes.. at least here in Memphis. But I can fathom it.
What I can't fathom is a white man ordering a black woman to get up on her tired feet and give HIM her seat on a dang public bus, mind you, where they both paid the same fare. I can't fathom a society that not only thought that was proper but had it mandated into law 'fer Heaven's sake. I have to take that into account every time I want to rant and rave at how blacks are taking advantage of the system today and demanding affirmative action.
What I can't fathom is a white man ordering a black woman to get up on her tired feet and give HIM her seat on a dang public bus, mind you, where they both paid the same fare.
I heard an interesting thing on the GARAGE LOGIC radio show today that I never knew, and it falls in line with what you said, Sudo.
They were discussing Rosa, and the injustices of those times -- and someone made the comment that the black folks were allowed in the front door of the bus to pay for their token, but then had to exit that same door, and then re-enter the bus via the back door to get their seat.
I'd not heard that one before, and it may be bogus -- but given the mentality of the times, I would almost bet that it's true.
Bless her for the *stand* she did, and did not take! :)
When I was a little feller growing up in Ft. Worth, Texas, few blacks rode the same busses my family rode. The ones who did sat pretty much where they pleased and a gentleman always gave his seat up for a lady regardless.
I do remember some larger stores had "colored" and "white" restrooms and drinking fountains. When I was about 7 or so, I asked my dad why that was. He told me it was so store employees would know which customers could read and which ones couldn't. In the event of emergencies, the signs were pretty much ignored.
My mother was nervous around blacks and Mexicans because she grew up in a small northern Wisconsin town full of Scandinavians, and never saw any dark skinned people until she took the train to Texas.
This was in her mid twenties.
It also made her nervous because when I was a baby, evidently, blacks and Mexicans would continually come to touch my blonde hair. I think they thought it was good luck or something. She didn't mind, too much, but it made her nervous.
I remember hearing about Rosa Parks and lots of folks were wondering what the big deal was since Texas was a different world, it seems. Many taxi cab drivers were black and they always rode in the front.
Like Sudo...some things we can fathom and some things we can't.
They showed photos of her on the news last night. My Oh My she was a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN - even in her aging she stayed remarkably beautiful. In her smile you sure could see her 'INNER BEAUTY'.
How come no one says WHO THAT MAN was that tried to get her to GET OUT OF HER SEAT. He certainly was NO GENTLEMAN.. Oh the humiliation she went through getting 'arrested'. And what ever became of that 'man'? Why didn't the 'media' ever focus on who HE was, so we could all write that guy some letters? As a women regardless of nationality -- a Man just should NEVER treat a lady like that.
Her passing is very sad, but it's also good to see that she lived a long and healthy life. She was indeed very courageous. And even forty plus years later, the effects of the segregation of the Jim Crow south continue in the lives of people who were raised in these conditions. My mother was born in Bessemer Alabama in 1933. She said that when she enlisted in the Air Force in the early 50's there was a white woman on her base in Louisiana who was shocked to find that Mom didn't have a tail! It's hard for us to fathom the depths of the ignorance that persisted in the South. Segregation reinforced many myths and lies about blacks that supported the bigotry that had been born in the slave trade.
I remember growing up in northern West Virginia, if one of us had to use the bathroom when we were out and about, my mother would always ask the store owner with uncharacteristic timidity if it was all right. It didn't occur to me until years later that this was an after effect of the Jim Crow South. She never assumed that we had equal access to anything, even in a northern state in the 70's. As a matter of fact, we didn't have equal access to everything we should have. When we moved to Wheeling, WV in 1974, she was unable to buy a house in the neighborhood she wanted to move to. It was a great neighborhood in close proximity to two private schools, one of which she wanted us to attend. After much stalling and many hollow excuses, the realtor finally broke down and told my mother that the residents of the area had warned her that if she sold us a house in that area (near Linsly Military Institute), they would burn it to the ground.
So as we salute and remember Rosa Parks, we should also remember that not all of the bigots where in Alabama, and not all of them changed their ways. Racial bigotry cuts both ways, affecting both the hated and the haters. Thanks to civil rights pioneers like Rosa Parks, Matin Luther king, and many others like them, most of whom remain virtually unknown (including my wife's paternal grandmother) racism is a diminishing force in American life, but it's not dead yet.
On another note: Growing up in Norhtern Virginia, one family owned two lots and decided to build a house on one. When the neighbors (who didn't realize they had moved into what was historically a black neighborhood, found out that a black family was building a house, they had a realtor asess the value and offered the family twice what it cost to build the house.
Mr. Simon's accepted the offer and build on his second lot.
Just a little blurb from the NYT article honoring her. Not a lot of people know that the Rosa Parks bus incident was not an isolated event, but an opportunity that Blacks sought to demonstrate intolerance of segregation - - particularly following the landmark Supreme Ct. ruling on Brown v. The Board of Eduction. They saw that ruling as huge signal that they could "push back" on the injustices they were forced to endure and a growing numbers of Blacks were couragously getting arrested to force their equal status under the law. Mrs. Parks herself was very active in the local NAACP and other groups that had simply had enough.
Mrs. Parks was very active in the Montgomery N.A.A.C.P. chapter, and she and her husband, Raymond, a barber, had taken part in voter registration drives.
At the urging of an employer, Virginia Durr, Mrs. Parks had attended an interracial leadership conference at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tenn., in the summer of 1955. There, she later said, she "gained strength to persevere in my work for freedom, not just for blacks but for all oppressed people."
But as she rushed home from her job as a seamstress at a department store on Dec. 1, 1955, the last thing on her mind was becoming "the mother of the civil rights movement," as many would later describe her. She had to send out notices of the N.A.A.C.P.'s coming election of officers. And she had to prepare for the workshop that she was running for teenagers that weekend.
More from the same article posted above:
Rosa Parks entering a Montgomery, Ala., court in 1956. More Photos >
For years blacks had complained, and Mrs. Parks was no exception. "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest," she said. "I did a lot of walking in Montgomery."
After a confrontation in 1943, a driver named James Blake ejected Mrs. Parks from his bus. As fate would have it, he was driving the Cleveland Avenue bus on Dec. 1, 1955. He demanded that four blacks give up their seats in the middle section so a lone white man could sit. Three of them complied.
Recalling the incident for "Eyes on the Prize," a 1987 public television series on the civil rights movement, Mrs. Parks said: "When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up and I said, 'No, I'm not.' And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.' "
Her arrest was the answer to prayers for the Women's Political Council, which was set up in 1946 in response to the mistreatment of black bus riders, and for E. D. Nixon, a leading advocate of equality for blacks in Montgomery.
Blacks had been arrested, and even killed, for disobeying bus drivers. They had begun to build a case around a 15-year-old girl's arrest for refusing to give up her seat, and Mrs. Parks had been among those raising money for the girl's defense. But when they learned that the girl was pregnant, they decided that she was an unsuitable symbol for their cause.
And yes, DMiller - - that IS true and has been well documented:
On Montgomery buses, the first four rows were reserved for whites. The rear was for blacks, who made up more than 75 percent of the bus system's riders. Blacks could sit in the middle rows until those seats were needed by whites. Then the blacks had to move to seats in the rear, stand or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Even getting on the bus presented hurdles: If whites were already sitting in the front, blacks could board to pay the fare but then they had to disembark and re-enter through the rear door.
Correct, jardinero. In fact there was a general boycott of the bus system and large demonstrations in Baton Rouge several years earlier. They gained important concessions locally. As Rosa was already an activist, I'm sure the success in Baton Rouge was in her thinking when she made her bold move.
Folks in those days knew how to make their point with grace & dignity. Which added power and weight to their argument.
Rosa Parks entering a Montgomery, Ala., court in 1956. More Photos >
For years blacks had complained, and Mrs. Parks was no exception. "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest," she said. "I did a lot of walking in Montgomery."
After a confrontation in 1943, a driver named James Blake ejected Mrs. Parks from his bus. As fate would have it, he was driving the Cleveland Avenue bus on Dec. 1, 1955. He demanded that four blacks give up their seats in the middle section so a lone white man could sit. Three of them complied.
Recalling the incident for "Eyes on the Prize," a 1987 public television series on the civil rights movement, Mrs. Parks said: "When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up and I said, 'No, I'm not.' And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.' "
Her arrest was the answer to prayers for the Women's Political Council, which was set up in 1946 in response to the mistreatment of black bus riders, and for E. D. Nixon, a leading advocate of equality for blacks in Montgomery.
Blacks had been arrested, and even killed, for disobeying bus drivers. They had begun to build a case around a 15-year-old girl's arrest for refusing to give up her seat, and Mrs. Parks had been among those raising money for the girl's defense. But when they learned that the girl was pregnant, they decided that she was an unsuitable symbol for their cause.
And yes, DMiller - - that IS true and has been well documented:
For those of you who watch C-SPAN, they will be covering the viewing at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda later this evening:
African-American civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, who recently died at age 92, will be honored in a formal, public ceremony in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C. The Congress passed a resolution late this week to pay her tribute in a manner traditionally accorded deceased heads of state.
A closed casket bearing the body of Rosa Parks will be placed on a platform for public viewing inside the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building. U.S. Senate historian Richard Baker says Rosa Parks is the first private citizen in the United States to be accorded the honor. "The first woman and the first civilian - those are pretty major distinctions [honors]. It is certainly the highest honor that Congress can bestow on any person to have that person lie in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol.
Rosa Parks is the second African American and the third American who wasn't a head of state to receive the posthumous tribute. Traditionally, U.S. presidents and other top public officials -- leaders like Abraham Lincoln in 1865, John Kennedy in 1963, and Ronald Reagan last year -- have been accorded the honor of a formal, public mourning ceremony under the dome of the U.S. Capitol. The ceremony known as laying in state describes the official tradition of placing the body of a deceased public figure in the Rotunda for public viewing before funeral and burial.
I was happy to hear that Congress thought to provide such a fitting tribute to this wonderful leader.
I, too, was extremely please, proud and touched that she's getting the respect she deserves. :) The flags will also be flown at half mast in her honor.
Rosa Parks' legacy goes to show how much of an impact one person can make without even being aware of the consequences of the decisions we make. People are always watching and observing us and the ripples aren't always as apparent at Rosa's, but they're there nonetheless.
Jerry, my Great Aunt Elsie Smith lives in Bessemer or someplace nearby (gonna have to ask Mama). She had twelve children and they mostly all live on the land that she owns in trailers and some in real live houses. I had a blast going there as a child and when I was a baby it was so crowded I had to sleep in a drawer in the chest of drawers.
Who was the guy who asked Rosa Parks to give up her seat and whatever happened to him?
Curious
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Curious:
A bus driver named James F. Blake ordered Rosa Parks to give up her seat on December 1, 1955. When she refused, the driver said, "Well, I'm going to have you arrested." She replied, "You may go on and do so."
According to Wikipedia, Blake continued to work for the bus company for another 19 years after the Rosa Parks arrest. He died of a heart attack in Montgomery, Alabama in 2002.
Ms. Parks was sitting in the middle of the bus, directly behind 10 seats reserved exclusively for white people. All of the seats of the bus were filled when a white man entered. Following standard practice, the driver ordered all four African Americans sitting just behind the white section to stand so the white man could sit.
While she was often portrayed as a humble seamstress, Ms. Parks was an active member of the NAACP at the time, and was fully aware of the consequences of her actions. The bus sat abandoned in an Alabama field for many years until it was identified by its serial number. It is currently housed in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
The Henry Ford Museum also features a fascinating diagram of exactly where Ms. Parks was sitting when she was arrested.
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Shellon
Of course I believe it, she's been one of my 10 year old hero's for about 3 years or so. A great example to my child of a strong woman that refused to back down no matter what the cost.
Excellent role model for anyone. She'll be missed. Kelly and I have followed her health and life and are saddened by this loss.
92 years old.......dig that!
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GrouchoMarxJr
Gosh...My eyes well up with tears over this news. This was a simple woman who did somethong great. She was expected to give up her seat on the bus because she was black...she had the audacity to say "NO" and go to jail for it.
When she took this action, she had no idea that her name would go on to represent standing up against injustice and that her actions would be a catalyst for the civil rights movement. She simply thought she was going to jail for her civil disobedience...God rest her soul.
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Linda Z
What a courageous woman she was. God rest her soul.
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Sudo
Wanna' know what I can't fathom??
And I can fathom a whole lot that I don't agree with. I can fathom why schools were segregated back in the 50's... blacks weren't on the same level as whites (like duh, the black schools weren't properly funded) and lily white folks really didn't want their precious chil'ren associating with negros. But OK... I can fathom it. I can fathom separate white and colored restrooms because blacks weren't as clean as whites. Like duh again... blacks weren't paid a living wage and many didn't even have running water in their homes.. at least here in Memphis. But I can fathom it.
What I can't fathom is a white man ordering a black woman to get up on her tired feet and give HIM her seat on a dang public bus, mind you, where they both paid the same fare. I can't fathom a society that not only thought that was proper but had it mandated into law 'fer Heaven's sake. I have to take that into account every time I want to rant and rave at how blacks are taking advantage of the system today and demanding affirmative action.
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Linda Z
Hear, hear, Sudo! Well said.
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dmiller
I heard an interesting thing on the GARAGE LOGIC radio show today that I never knew, and it falls in line with what you said, Sudo.
They were discussing Rosa, and the injustices of those times -- and someone made the comment that the black folks were allowed in the front door of the bus to pay for their token, but then had to exit that same door, and then re-enter the bus via the back door to get their seat.
I'd not heard that one before, and it may be bogus -- but given the mentality of the times, I would almost bet that it's true.
Bless her for the *stand* she did, and did not take! :)
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Ron G.
When I was a little feller growing up in Ft. Worth, Texas, few blacks rode the same busses my family rode. The ones who did sat pretty much where they pleased and a gentleman always gave his seat up for a lady regardless.
I do remember some larger stores had "colored" and "white" restrooms and drinking fountains. When I was about 7 or so, I asked my dad why that was. He told me it was so store employees would know which customers could read and which ones couldn't. In the event of emergencies, the signs were pretty much ignored.
My mother was nervous around blacks and Mexicans because she grew up in a small northern Wisconsin town full of Scandinavians, and never saw any dark skinned people until she took the train to Texas.
This was in her mid twenties.
It also made her nervous because when I was a baby, evidently, blacks and Mexicans would continually come to touch my blonde hair. I think they thought it was good luck or something. She didn't mind, too much, but it made her nervous.
I remember hearing about Rosa Parks and lots of folks were wondering what the big deal was since Texas was a different world, it seems. Many taxi cab drivers were black and they always rode in the front.
Like Sudo...some things we can fathom and some things we can't.
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jetc57
They showed photos of her on the news last night. My Oh My she was a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN - even in her aging she stayed remarkably beautiful. In her smile you sure could see her 'INNER BEAUTY'.
How come no one says WHO THAT MAN was that tried to get her to GET OUT OF HER SEAT. He certainly was NO GENTLEMAN.. Oh the humiliation she went through getting 'arrested'. And what ever became of that 'man'? Why didn't the 'media' ever focus on who HE was, so we could all write that guy some letters? As a women regardless of nationality -- a Man just should NEVER treat a lady like that.
Hard to fathum, indeed!
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Pirate1974
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Jbarrax
Her passing is very sad, but it's also good to see that she lived a long and healthy life. She was indeed very courageous. And even forty plus years later, the effects of the segregation of the Jim Crow south continue in the lives of people who were raised in these conditions. My mother was born in Bessemer Alabama in 1933. She said that when she enlisted in the Air Force in the early 50's there was a white woman on her base in Louisiana who was shocked to find that Mom didn't have a tail! It's hard for us to fathom the depths of the ignorance that persisted in the South. Segregation reinforced many myths and lies about blacks that supported the bigotry that had been born in the slave trade.
I remember growing up in northern West Virginia, if one of us had to use the bathroom when we were out and about, my mother would always ask the store owner with uncharacteristic timidity if it was all right. It didn't occur to me until years later that this was an after effect of the Jim Crow South. She never assumed that we had equal access to anything, even in a northern state in the 70's. As a matter of fact, we didn't have equal access to everything we should have. When we moved to Wheeling, WV in 1974, she was unable to buy a house in the neighborhood she wanted to move to. It was a great neighborhood in close proximity to two private schools, one of which she wanted us to attend. After much stalling and many hollow excuses, the realtor finally broke down and told my mother that the residents of the area had warned her that if she sold us a house in that area (near Linsly Military Institute), they would burn it to the ground.
So as we salute and remember Rosa Parks, we should also remember that not all of the bigots where in Alabama, and not all of them changed their ways. Racial bigotry cuts both ways, affecting both the hated and the haters. Thanks to civil rights pioneers like Rosa Parks, Matin Luther king, and many others like them, most of whom remain virtually unknown (including my wife's paternal grandmother) racism is a diminishing force in American life, but it's not dead yet.
Peace
JerryB
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Tumbleweed Kid
On another note: Growing up in Norhtern Virginia, one family owned two lots and decided to build a house on one. When the neighbors (who didn't realize they had moved into what was historically a black neighborhood, found out that a black family was building a house, they had a realtor asess the value and offered the family twice what it cost to build the house.
Mr. Simon's accepted the offer and build on his second lot.
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oenophile
Jerry,
Thank you for sharing your story with us. God bless your mom.
Robin
Rosa,
Your courage gave birth to the Dream. God bless you. May we be worthy to pick up your mantle to carry on the fight against injustice.
R
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jardinero
Just a little blurb from the NYT article honoring her. Not a lot of people know that the Rosa Parks bus incident was not an isolated event, but an opportunity that Blacks sought to demonstrate intolerance of segregation - - particularly following the landmark Supreme Ct. ruling on Brown v. The Board of Eduction. They saw that ruling as huge signal that they could "push back" on the injustices they were forced to endure and a growing numbers of Blacks were couragously getting arrested to force their equal status under the law. Mrs. Parks herself was very active in the local NAACP and other groups that had simply had enough.
From the NYT
More from the same article posted above:
Rosa Parks entering a Montgomery, Ala., court in 1956. More Photos >
For years blacks had complained, and Mrs. Parks was no exception. "My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest," she said. "I did a lot of walking in Montgomery."
After a confrontation in 1943, a driver named James Blake ejected Mrs. Parks from his bus. As fate would have it, he was driving the Cleveland Avenue bus on Dec. 1, 1955. He demanded that four blacks give up their seats in the middle section so a lone white man could sit. Three of them complied.
Recalling the incident for "Eyes on the Prize," a 1987 public television series on the civil rights movement, Mrs. Parks said: "When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up and I said, 'No, I'm not.' And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.' "
Her arrest was the answer to prayers for the Women's Political Council, which was set up in 1946 in response to the mistreatment of black bus riders, and for E. D. Nixon, a leading advocate of equality for blacks in Montgomery.
Blacks had been arrested, and even killed, for disobeying bus drivers. They had begun to build a case around a 15-year-old girl's arrest for refusing to give up her seat, and Mrs. Parks had been among those raising money for the girl's defense. But when they learned that the girl was pregnant, they decided that she was an unsuitable symbol for their cause.
And yes, DMiller - - that IS true and has been well documented:
J.
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TheEvan
Correct, jardinero. In fact there was a general boycott of the bus system and large demonstrations in Baton Rouge several years earlier. They gained important concessions locally. As Rosa was already an activist, I'm sure the success in Baton Rouge was in her thinking when she made her bold move.
Folks in those days knew how to make their point with grace & dignity. Which added power and weight to their argument.
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dmiller
Thanks, J. :)
David
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jardinero
For those of you who watch C-SPAN, they will be covering the viewing at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda later this evening:
I was happy to hear that Congress thought to provide such a fitting tribute to this wonderful leader.
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Belle
VERY FITTING TRIBUTE, INDEED, JARDINERO!
I, too, was extremely please, proud and touched that she's getting the respect she deserves. :) The flags will also be flown at half mast in her honor.
Rosa Parks' legacy goes to show how much of an impact one person can make without even being aware of the consequences of the decisions we make. People are always watching and observing us and the ripples aren't always as apparent at Rosa's, but they're there nonetheless.
Jerry, my Great Aunt Elsie Smith lives in Bessemer or someplace nearby (gonna have to ask Mama). She had twelve children and they mostly all live on the land that she owns in trailers and some in real live houses. I had a blast going there as a child and when I was a baby it was so crowded I had to sleep in a drawer in the chest of drawers.
I'm so thankful for women like Rosa Parks!
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jetc57
Yahoo's reply to:
Who was the guy who asked Rosa Parks to give up her seat and whatever happened to him?
Curious
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Curious:
A bus driver named James F. Blake ordered Rosa Parks to give up her seat on December 1, 1955. When she refused, the driver said, "Well, I'm going to have you arrested." She replied, "You may go on and do so."
According to Wikipedia, Blake continued to work for the bus company for another 19 years after the Rosa Parks arrest. He died of a heart attack in Montgomery, Alabama in 2002.
Ms. Parks was sitting in the middle of the bus, directly behind 10 seats reserved exclusively for white people. All of the seats of the bus were filled when a white man entered. Following standard practice, the driver ordered all four African Americans sitting just behind the white section to stand so the white man could sit.
While she was often portrayed as a humble seamstress, Ms. Parks was an active member of the NAACP at the time, and was fully aware of the consequences of her actions. The bus sat abandoned in an Alabama field for many years until it was identified by its serial number. It is currently housed in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
The Henry Ford Museum also features a fascinating diagram of exactly where Ms. Parks was sitting when she was arrested.
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