Yesterday was a sad day. Rosa Parks dies. Rosa Parks is an icon from the 50’s Civil Rights movement for African Americans. Back then everything was segregated. The phrase “separate but equal” was used a lot. (How stupid a phrase is that? I thought a lot about that in India, when the women had to always be separate in church. Dave and I liked to sit on the wrong side.) When riding the bus, blacks had to pay the driver then get off the bus and get on using the back door. They were allowed to sit as long as there were no white people waiting for a seat or any white people in the row. One evening after work she was sitting on the bus with 4 other black people in her row. When a white person got on the bus they were told to move, by the bus driver. The others did but she refused to. She was arrested and that led to a large number of lawsuits against the municipalities against the bus segregation laws, bus boycotts, and large rallies. She was fined but the laws were eventually overturned. They tell us that she was an old woman that was especially tired. In actuality she was 40 and she wasn’t any more tired than usual after a day of work. She was an activist that had finally had enough. She knew that something had to be done. Not lighting the bus on fire, not getting people to turn the bus over on its side. She stood up to the bus driver and the law. I think it’s funny that the story I learned in elementary school was wrong. I wonder what else I learned in elementary school is wrong. Thinking back to the teachers I had, I bet there’s lots of things. I had some pretty bad teachers in elementary and jr. high school. I bet that’s the reason that I got fired from Georgetown and now have to wait tables at the Fish Market. They were probably all sick of hearing all the stupid things that I learned in elementary school that were wrong. I could have been someone big and important if I hadn’t thought all my life that Rosa Parks was old!!
Anyway… Rosa Parks has become the poster girl for being the first, even though Alabama wasn’t the first to have the bus segregation laws challenged. She rocked the boat and played a huge roll in breaking that and other injustices. She should be the poster girl for fighting the system.
Good-bye Rosa. I hope that your actions won’t ever be forgotten. I hope that we truly did learn a lesson about equality and the stupidity of racism.
5 comments:
Stupid primary schools. I think that from my reading I got the same version of Rosa Parks as you got in school.
In Australia we were taught in primary school that Captin Cook was the first white man to found Australia. Then in high school we learnt that the Dutch were the first.
Rosa Park's sounds top quality.
Have you seen Gandi the movie?
Or read Nelson Mandala's Long Walk to Freedom.
If not do both.
You know learned about rosa parks in school?!? we didn't even learn where austrailia is! let alone any of your history!
No i have seen the movie or read the book. I'll put them on my lists.
I think all we learned about Australia was that it was populated by criminals...oh wait...maybe we learned that from The Princess Bride...hmm... :)
Yeah I think in High School I may of had her mentioned.
English or something. We studied a bit on the civil rights movement. 12 Angry Men etc..
Although I may just of found out about her from movies.
i'm really glad to know that i'm not the only one walking through life thinking that i've been taught a bunch of wrong shit.
i'm sure to be found out any day now.
but don't tell anyone...
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