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Sister Rosa Parks The 20th Century American Icon
A few weeks ago America celebrated the life of Sister Rosa Parks a true American heroine. In many ways Sister Rosa Parks was the epitome of courage in the 20th. Century. Her act of defiance of refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery Alabama on the 1st. of December in 1955 may very well be the most significant action by an American Citizen in the 20th century.
Sister Park's act of courage is remarkable because unlike other major figures in the 20th century such as our American Presidents, sister Parks under took her actions without the protection of the FBI, law Enforcement or a personal security force. She was threaten by roving racist groups. Her family received threatening phone calls. The only protection she had was her trust in God and her reliance on prayer.
President Reagan is credited with winning the Cold War in the 1980‘s. His administration rebuilt the US military and in 1983 unveiled a proposal for the Strategic Defense Initiative later called "Star Wars" these actions by President Reagan caused President Gorbachev and the Russians to sign the International Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty which led to the elimination of many nuclear weapons.
The actions of President Reagan were significant and they were a contributing factor in tearing down the Berlin Wall in 1989. President Reagan's courage is unquestioned. He was one of the great figures in the 20th. Century. But it is important to note that President Reagan had the full force of the Federal Government shielding him from physical attacks. He had his own personal security forces which was a part of the presidency. He also had the added protection of the FBI, the CIA and other protective agencies. The legal system protected his rights to be president.
Sister Rosa Parks had none of the protections afforded many of the leaders of 20th. century. She in many ways was on her own during that cold day on the 1st. of December in 1955. Dr. Martin Luther King was a young 26 year old pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. He was not a prominent figure. He was a private citizen serving as a minister. It was the defiant act of Sister Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery Alabama bus that ignited the flame that catapulted Dr. King to National prominence.
The actions of a shy, petite Rosa Parks were in many ways more significant than that of President Ronald Reagan and Dr. Martin Luther King. President Reagan's "Star Wars" initiative addressed the physical protection of the American way of life but did not address the interpersonal relationships of Americans from different cultural and racial backgrounds.
Dr. King's civil right's initiatives addressed the legal rights of all American citizens and started a national debate on race and class but would Dr. King have achieved his lofty status in life if it had not been for the heroic efforts of Sister Rosa Parks. We must remember that Dr. King did not become prominent in the Civil Rights Movement until he took up the cause of leading a bus boycott to protest the treatment of Sister Rosa Parks on a Montgomery, Alabama bus.
We must remember that in the modern Civil Rights Movement it was attorney Thurgood Marshall the civil rights lawyer who won the landmark case of Brown verses The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that banned school segregation in 1954 who initially caused Americans to focus on race relations in the 20th. Century but it was the actions of sister Rosa Parks that galvanized the 20th. Century civil rights movement.
Sister Parks did not have the prestige of attorney Marshall who later became the first black justice of Supreme Court justice. Sister Parks was an unknown American citizen who desired the same rights as others in America. Her actions on a bus on the 1st. of December in 1955 made us aware that positive relations with others who may or may not share our heritage or background is important if we are to live in peace and harmony.
Sister Rosa Parks put a human face on discrimination she made us aware that discrimination is painful. Countless persons had suffered racial discrimination before sister Parks but none captured the American imagination in the way sister Parks had. The persistence and dignity of sister Parks effected people on both sides of the color line like no other person in history.Sister Parks did not refuse to give up her seat because she was physically tied. She refused to give up her seat because she was tied of an unjust, unfair system that discriminated against innocent people because of their race.
On a personal note I applaud the actions of Sister Rosa Parks and those of attorney Marshall because it was their courage and determination that helped to open the doors for my children to receive a balanced education, doors that were closed to my grandfather who was born in 1882 and died in 1976, he lived in a era when Jim Crow signs littered the American landscape. One sign said White, the other said Colored. Blacks were denied equal protection under the law. My grandfather's taxes supported schools that his children could not attend. He was a brilliant man who could have excelled in any academic field but was denied an opportunity to realize his potential.
When sister Rosa Parks struck a blow against discrimination in 1955 my grandfather was 73 years old and had long passed his prime. But the actions of sister Parks in 1955 was not to late for his great grandson who in the year 1999 received recruiting letters from MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and many of the Ivy league schools. The actions of sister Parks gave his great grand son the option to say no to MIT and to say yes to a school of his choice. He was able to make this choice because a small lady named Rosa Parks refused to give her seat up on a city bus in Montgomery Alabama.
Take your rest sister Parks and thank you for opening the doors of equality for all Americans.
The Reverend Micheal J. Darby