“Stand for what's right. Stand up for yourself (even if it means sitting down). When you do others will follow.” – I am Rosa Parks
The Declaration of Independence famously proclaims that “all men are created equal”, under God and under the law. But there was a time when America failed to live up to those ideals. Slavery, a norm throughout history, would formally end with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865, although integration of blacks into society would not go as planned. Southern Democrats quickly passed state and local laws, called Jim Crow, imposing racial segregation on public transportation, schools, and more. The 14th Amendment, ratified three years later, would guarantee equal protection for all under the law. But ratification of the 14th Amendment was not accepted, in whole or in part, by all the states, particularly those in the South.
In 1896, progress was further delayed when the Supreme Court reinforced Jim Crow laws in the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling. Separate but equal allowed segregation to continue until the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision put an end to discrimination in schools. Any biases that remained officially ended with the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, with the help of an ordinary black woman, and a single act of defiance.
In Brad Meltzer’s 2014 children’s picture book biography, “I Am Rosa Parks”, Meltzer showcases the life of Rosa Parks, from the tribulations in her youth to her pre-civil rights activism as an adult. Parks, tired of the injustices she witnessed every day, became a historical fixture in the fight for black rights when she refused to cede her seat on a city bus to a white man. Her resistance would serve as a catalyst for change by igniting the first mass protest of the civil rights era. Kid-friendly and age-appropriate, Meltzer’s “I am” series teaches children about key figures in American history. Other books include “I Am Albert Einstein”, “I Am Amelia Earhart”, and “I Am Helen Keller”.
It was in Alabama, in 1955, when Rosa Parks, a working seamstress, refused to relinquish her seat as required by a Montgomery city ordinance. Already seated in the first row of the blacks-only section of the bus, Parks and three others, were asked to move once the white section became filled and additional space was needed. Blacks were not only required to move should seats be needed but were also expected to exit the bus if all seats were needed to accommodate white riders. Three of her seatmates heeded the warning and left their row. Parks, however, had had enough.
Refusing to comply, Parks was arrested for disorderly conduct and civil disobedience to segregation laws. She was found guilty and fined $14. Her resistance led to the Montgomery bus boycott, where a one-day protest grew into a campaign lasting more than a year, inflicting significant financial consequences on the city itself. Led by an unknown pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr., 40,000 black riders would refuse to ride the bus, at a time when blacks made up 75 percent of ridership.
This extended protest led to a civil suit against the city demanding an end to racial segregation. A year later, in 1956, a federal court ruled that the separation of whites and blacks was unconstitutional. Although the city appealed to the Supreme Court, the lower court’s ruling was upheld, and the boycott ended, marking the beginning of the end of racial segregation in the South.
By the time of her death in 2005, Rosa Parks was a stalwart in the civil rights movement. Honored for her distinguished service to the nation, Parks became the first woman to ever lie in state in the nation’s capital, an honor usually reserved for politicians. All from a single act of rebellion.
In 1917, a civic organization known as the Lion’s Club was officially established for the betterment of society. Acting on the acronym LIONS (Liberty, Intelligence, Our, Nation’s, Safety), Rosa herself became a lioness for the cause of equality in America, long after the scourge of racism ended. And the America our Founders earlier envisioned came one step closer to achieving that standard.
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