Opinion: It’s time to free Rosa Parks from the bus
Editor's note: Danielle McGuire is the author of "At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape and Resistance-a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power." She is an Assistant Professor in the History Department at Wayne State University, and a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. She lives with her husband and two children in metro Detroit.
By Danielle McGuire, Special to CNN
(CNN) - In 2011, Rosa Parks was in the news, six years after her death. An excerpt from a breathtaking essay she wrote in the 1950s about a “near rape” by a white man in Alabama was released to the public. The handwritten narrative detailed Parks' steely resistance to a white man, “Mr. Charlie," who attempted to assault her in 1931 while she was working as a domestic for a white family.
It was late evening when “Mr. Charlie” pushed his way into the house and tried to have sex with her. Having grown up in the segregated South, she knew all too well the special vulnerabilities black women faced. She recalled, for example, how her great-grandmother, a slave, had been “mistreated and abused” by her white master.
Despite her fear, she refused to let the same thing happen to her. “I knew that no matter what happened,” she wrote, “I would never yield to this white man’s bestiality.” "I was ready to die,” she said, “but give my consent, never. Never, never." Parks was absolutely defiant: “If he wanted to kill me and rape a dead body,” she said, “he was welcome, but he would have to kill me first.”
Does that sound like the Rosa Parks we know?
Some of the guardians of Parks’ legacy have said it is not, and insist the essay was fiction. But by dismissing the writings as fiction, it retains the popular image of Rosa Parks as a simple seamstress whose singular and spontaneous act launched the civil rights movement that brought down the walls of segregation.
This popular presentation of Parks as a quiet but courageous woman, whose humble righteousness shamed America into doing what was right has become a mythic fable present in nearly every high school history textbook, museum exhibit, and memorial.
December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks arrested
She has been imprisoned by this tale, frozen in time as a silent and saintly icon whose only real action was to stay seated so that, in the words of her many eulogists, “we could all stand up.”
This overly simplistic story makes it impossible to imagine her essay about Mr. Charlie as anything but fiction.
But what if we knew more about the real Rosa Parks—a militant race woman and sharp detective whose career as a human rights activist spanned seven decades?
It’s time to free Rosa Parks from the bus.
Rosa Parks had a history of being defiant, and her fierce response to Mr. Charlie in the essay echoes her lifelong history of resistance to white supremacy. She learned about racial pride and self-defense at her grandfather’s knee in the 1910s.
Sylvester Edwards was a fan of the Jamaican-born black nationalist, Marcus Garvey, and delighted young Rosa with stories of Garvey’s greatness. She was especially proud of her grandfather’s willingness to defend himself and his family from the daily terror of the Ku Klux Klan in Pine Level, Alabama.
“Whatever happened,” she said, “I wanted to see it … I wanted to see him shoot that gun. I wasn’t going to be caught asleep.” This spirit of defense and defiance, she said later, “had been passed down almost in our genes' that a proud African-American can not accept "bad treatment from anybody.”
In the 1930s, Rosa Parks joined her husband Raymond and others in secret meetings to defend the Scottsboro boys—nine young African-American men accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. In the 1940s, they hosted Voter League meetings, where they encouraged neighbors to register even though it was a dangerous task. In 1943, she joined the Montgomery NAACP and was elected branch secretary. The job required Parks to investigate and document acts of racist and sexist brutality.
It was in this context, in 1944, that Rosa Parks investigated the brutal gang-rape of Recy Taylor, a black woman from Abbeville, Alabama.
Parks took Taylor’s testimony back to Montgomery, where she and other activists organized the “Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor.” They launched what the Chicago Defender called the “strongest campaign for equal justice to be seen in a decade.” In 1948, she gave a fiery speech at the state NAACP convention criticizing President Harry Truman’s civil rights initiatives. “No one should feel proud,” she said, “when Negroes every day are being molested.”
Foot fatigue played no role when she refused to relinquish her seat on December 1, 1955. “There had to be a stopping place,” she said, “and this seemed to be the place for me to stop being pushed around. I had decided that I would have to know once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen, even in Montgomery, Alabama.”
Constant death threats forced her to leave Alabama in 1957. When she arrived in Detroit she continued working as an activist. Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, she worked to secure “Black Power,” fought for open housing and against police brutality, railed against the war in Vietnam, and campaigned for George McGovern. She was an ardent fan of Malcolm X and Robert F. Williams, a militant NAACP leader from North Carolina who advocated “armed self-reliance.” She admired Williams so much that she delivered the eulogy at his funeral in 1996.
Given Parks’ history, her defiance of “Mr. Charlie” in 1931 makes perfect sense and fits within a larger context of resistance to the inhumanity of racism and sexism. Instead of a tired seamstress who tiptoed into history, Rosa Parks was a woman who marched proudly with strength, conviction, and purpose.
It is this Rosa Parks that we ought to celebrate and honor. Her history as an active citizen engaged in the most pressing issues of her time - especially racial and sexual violence –can teach us how to do the same in ours.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Danielle McGuire.
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Rosa Parks was
Nobody can agree with anybody for any reason someone always has to disagree and there is no reasoning with him/her
Nobody cares about the Rosa Parks we didn't know? She stood up to oppression and years of abuse. She told the white devil, "I'm not gonna sit at the back of the bus!" which is really stupid, "you have to sit at the back because of your skin color? This story is pointless and stupid and probably has a personal agenda behind it. Sorry editor, your not gonna discredit anyone with this stupid story. Try harder.
@Joseph then why read the story, like I said before a white person won't say anything to a black person but hide behind a computer in which I call a internet coward. BE A MAN FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE.
What about all the other African Americans who were arrested for violating this law. We glorify and honor Parks, but only because the whole act was a publicity ploy by the NAACP. It was not some brave act by a lowely woman. They deserve credit for what the stunt achieved, but we shouldnt be honoring Parks as some hero who stood up to segragation and an unjust law when so many others stood up and went to jail or were beaten who violated the law out of their own principles, and not as some NAACP stunt.
Mike I agree with you. There was a women in Texas that refuse to move on a bus, way before Parks. Park's incident just came at a opportunity time for the NAACP To crate a march. She wasn't an outgoing or congenial women. She was invited to speak a NAACP banquet, she refuse to meet with some children prior to the banquet and only came down minutes before she was schedule to speak. It seem that she wasn't familiar with what was written on the paper before her. After her lousy speech she left with a women who had accompany her, and was never seen again.
To those at CNN that allow this hate to continue to be spewed, yet delete rebuttals of these evil comments are just as corrupt as those racist that allow such filth. Shame on CNN for not removing the racist rhetoric from your website! You deserve to be in the HALL OF SHAME! You continue to promote this mess by allowing it to continue.
It's easy to read between the lines here. Rosa Parks hated white people. That doesn't mean she didn't have a right to fight off a rapist, or not give up her seat on a bus. Be she sounds like a bitter racist who probably despised any white person who tried to do anything nice for her, too. I see nothing but your ordinary everyday racist here masquerading as a saintly angel from heaven.
OK......I get it.
Any Black person who is an activist for (racial) justice is a racist.
Thanks for clearing that up for everyone here 😉 .
violence by young black gangs against white people chosen at random on beaches, in shopping malls, or in other public places have occurred in Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles, and other places across the country. Both the authorities and the media tend to try to sweep these episodes under the rug.
As if there isn't enough rape, murder and violence against white people already, CNN instigates more hate for white people by recycling 60 year old incidents. What CNN is doing is a crime.
Where are the articles and "opinions" about the hundreds of thousands of white victims of black violence, many of whom were children or old women? There is more than can possibly be reported yet you have never reported even one of their stories. This is because CNN condones this rape, crime and murder because this is a racist propaganda network.
Where is my post?
I don't think the rape story is a fabrication, but the "simple seamstress" is. She was an organizer and her bus incident was part of a calculated (and brilliant) effort to bring the bus system to its knees. Even the historic photograph on the bus isn't real, but is a re-enactment.
this article points out many events in the life of rosa parks. However it failed to mention she was brutally attacked in her own home by a black man in 1994, who robber her of $53 dollar and put her in a hospital.
this event/crime was not a fictional paper, yet it is another black on black criminal act. One of the millions that occur. But Danielle McGuire is to scared to talk about this fact. this makes her a coward!
I wonder what was going through her mind as the African-American beat her with little mercy. I wonder what she thought, all alone, no money ... and all of those grandiose civil rights heroes had gone on to bigger things and huge money. Tell me Sharpton & Jackson do you think she admired you ? Do you think you could have given her a few bucks to pay her mortgage and food bills ? Nope...You were too busy with your big churches and 501c3 non-for-profit empires.
Any comments from the self righteous liberals ? I guess she has to be happy with her memorial highways and commemorative stamps...
Pimping Jesus Christ ? Too funny. You are way out there. I really struck the main chord with my statement. Rev. Sharpton & Rev. Jackson are the two biggest pimps I can think of... and they pimped ole Rosy Parks for all she was worth...left her to die....while they made fortunes being total frauds. They are the 501c3 champions.
You also are like those who defend slavery by saying we were sold by our own people, which you use to exonerate the slaveholders. Just say that it was bad, and stop justifying what happened later to her. The bus and lunchroom counter denials by a system of Jim Crow laws have had a lasting effect on my people, than a personal attack such as the previous poster who called us subhuman. Where is outrage against him?
The sub human reference was a horrible thing to say. But these constant assaults against European-Americans is also horrible and must be put in context to the entire problem. These articles are carefully crafted to generalize my people's accomplishments and character in a very negative way. Let's be fair.
I also believe my characterizations of Sharpton and Jackson are well grounded. They used her but she died poor and in need of many things. Where were they ? She helped them enormously; she gave them blanket use of her name and life story...
You are SO pleased that someone beat her up. You couldn't be happier if you'd done it yourself. Hateful little sneaks like you are the main thing wrong with human civilization. Always looking for a way to bite someone like the snakes you are, never anything helpful or positive to say.
I'm with you on the criticism of Jackson and Sharpton – they have a history of using people and events for their own gain, but I would hope that this is obvious to the majority of people, liberal, black, whatever. But that one mugging event that everyone brings up? Which do you think played a larger role in forming Rosa Park's character – the decades she spent being taught that she was a second class citizen, inferior to whites, subhuman, unable to even bring to court any crime done to her by a white, or this one day when she got mugged in the city?
I'm assuming folk like you are coming out because they feel like Eur Americans are being attacked by any recognition of our racist past and (slightly less) racist present. You shouldn't feel that way – we *know* that current civilization was mostly shaped by Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It's pretty obvious on a day to day basis. Nothing gets taken away from those contributions when you spend a minute pointing out that history wasn't all roses and sunshine and that all conflict today can be explained by our past and how things ended up playing out.
ffacts, you're talking apples and donuts. What does a criminal, regardless of skin color or the skin color of his victim, have to do with a system and laws that oppressed people and courts that refused to charge a someone, let alone try them and convict them, all because of the color of the victims' skin. The person you mentioned was a criminal who would saw an opportunity to commit a crime regardless of what color skin his victim was in or who she was. If you took the time to think about what you're about to say before you say it, you wouldn't make yourself look so ridiculous. Do black people commit crimes against black people? Sure. Do white people commit crimes against other white people? Of course they do. Inner-racial crimes are the biggest crimes, so are most crimes committed by people who know one another. The differences are the laws that went above and beyond to protect one race of people verses another all because one set was lighter skinned and the other darker.
She also didn't mention all of the THOUSANDS of times Ms Parks and other blacks had to comfort, support or bury some black person the victim of YET another white act of violence. So much violence was carried out by whites and the "so-called" law- all white- turned a blind eye. So if ever the true raw facts came out most of us who KNOW won't be shocked but of course certain whites will continue to spin and slide and deny and rationalize..."typical"...like Obama was inferring...
History is something that can be believed as fiction or non-fiction but when you see it repeat itself it is no longer History.
"By 2002, Parks was suffering from dementia and faced some financial difficulties. Parks could not pay her rent and relied on a local church to cover the costs for a time." -from an internet biography web site
Says a lot about all the BIG TIME civil rights leaders who crowded around her in death like they were best friends. Sharpton, Clinton, Jackson, MLK family members, and other very righteous minority members of congress. Once she fulfilled her purpose it was "thanks a lot.... gotta go now.... stay well...smiley face"
As I understand it, Rosa Parks had been to training in Saul Alinsky's methods. After this training, she "got tired feet" on the bus. I am not saying that is a negative. I am saying there is a myth Rosa Parks and the real Rosa Parks. Plain and simple, Rosa Parks was an activist working for social change. I see nothing new about her in this article. However, the article flies in the face of the myth.
These are the kinds of comments that crack me up. Saul Alinsky, practically a code word for likes of people who watch Fox News, told about this writer over and over as being a radical but never looked him up themselves. Do you mind explaining how Rosa Parks' action on a bus in 1955 was influenced by the advice given in Saul Alinsky's "Rule for Radicals"...which was published in 1971? You know, a simple wikipedia search would've made you look a little bit more credible. In fact, read the book....it not like it's teaching people how to make improvised weapons...it's little morsels of advice to give activists some tactics and keep morale up...hell, some of this bits of advice are modernizations of tips from Sun Tzu's Art of War
He was doing community organizing from 1930s until his death. You cite the last book he wrote. In 1946 he wrote "Reveille for Radicals". It is a more passionate book compared to "Rules for Radicals". During the 1950's he focused much time on community organzation of African-Americans. For Rosa Parks to have the community react to the bus situation, you need organzation to support it and do it. Alinsky gave help behind the scenes, either directly or indirectly.
As for Fox News, I never watch it nor do I read, watch, listen to neocons. I read Alinsky's stuff back in the 1980s. My comment had zero to do with the right and its myths.
Yes, it is my understanding that civil rights organizers were planning the bus action. Rosa Parks was chosen as a viable player who would give the situation the proper appeal, etc., a very important consideration to make it effective. We should continue to honor and admire Rosa Parks for her courage and action. But she was supported and guided by other activists in her planned action. This was not an impulsive in-the-moment choice.
Makes you wonder – was the discrimination she faced on the bus premeditated or impromptu? The rabbit hole gets deeper...
All famous people are both myth and reality. Besides, the public relations version is always more interesting than the real one.
In New York, will be 5 days of celebrations from Dec. 1 – 5th, 2012, spearheaded by Bernice Cossey Pulley, with candle/flashlight vigils remembering Rosa Parks, centered one block from the United Nations at Church of the Covenant, 310 East 42nd Street. Mrs. Pulley hopes that people worldwide will join her in her prayers for peace while remembering Rosa Parks courage.
You will never really know who Rosa Parks was, you will only know what the spinners want you to know about her
"You will never really know who Rosa Parks was, you will only know what the spinners want you to know about her"
Maybe she was born in Kenya? You want to see her birth certificate, of course.
Did anyone really believe that Rosa Parks didn't exist within the context of an oppressive society prior to the moment she refused to give up her seat on that bus? This story doesn't take anything at all away from her legacy – it just fills in some background.
It is still an oppressive society – what we need is another Rosa Park – the thing is, how many people do you think will recognize it when it is right in front of their face?
I have to agree – disgusting how the chiefs of the African tribes sold their captives to the Portuguese and Spanish who then shipped them and then sold them for a profit. The American Indian, Comanche as an example, made a living of taking Mexican, African, Western Europeans and turning them into slaves ... ransoming them back to their families, if they left any of their families alive. The Comanche women called the while women "Prairie Chickens" because they could be plucked off the Llano. I do agree with your post. The thousands of years of slavery need to be examined carefully ... the history today, and the slavery that still exists, needs to be studied as well.
Nah, while some may have been offended by race, I wouldn't think of debating that, the majority of people I know that are offended by B. H.O. in office is they (I) could see he was a Hollywood promotional kind of administrator. We see him more as an ill of society rather than a savior. The Rock Star reverence for him scares the hell out of a lot of Americans. It does not look well on you to quote the Leftist Manifesto. It is a tired point of view. It also has little to do with Rosa Parks. Rosa should be lifted as a symbol of a human being standing up for human rights ... the author, on the other hand, has found a way to profit from Rosa's courage. It is a free country, she is welcome to do so ... I have little respect for her efforts, very much like I have little respect for people who parrot what they've been told.
I am surprised that the Black slaves in the U.S. did not form an armed resistance and do terrorist acts like the revolutionary rebels did to the Brits. History would have surely been different. The slogan could have been "Death better than slavery"
If a slave was found with any weapons let alone congregating (which was forbidden) they could be beaten or at worst, killed. As for slave revolts many happened. Read up on your history.
I think something like that happened in Haiti. The general of the haitian rebellion of the french colonials was Toussaint L'Ouverture, who managed to outsmart Napolean, militarily. I think he was eventually captured though and died in a prison cell in france. I think all of this happened maybe around 1790 or so, probably lasted for a few years.
Against the colonial french, not 'of the french coloniails', obviously, that doens't make logical sense. I changed the adjective, noun order also, obviously.
Look how well Haiti is doing too.
Actually, they did. Louisiana slaves mounted a rebellion in the early 19th c. It was put down and swept under the rug. Can't have other slaves getting any ideas.
It wasn't that simple. Revolutions aren't easy to pull off. Even our own Revolution took a long time to get going. Lots of people in America didn't want to break ties with England. It took years for things to come to blows.
Then, when you have a revolution, you've got to have the infrastructure to support it. Munitions, supplies, personnel - it's hard to get that together.
Look up the Maroons at NOLA. They just dove off the boat, chains and all, when they saw land.
Ms. McGuire, thank you for such an outstanding article. I think people have seen her as a "simple tired seamstress" because people are more used to thinking of older women as loving aunts or grandmas, not as brave people with an intellect or political vision. I find it pathetic that some commenters here are using this as an occasion to bash blacks–and in doing so confirm that everything Ms. Parks did was right.
I agree with you. I found this article to be very enlightening as I had no knowledge of Ms. Parks other than this much publicized incident. I did find the quote posted by Lord Toronaga to be very disturbing. Apparantly she was abandoned by all the famous civil rights leaders towards the end of her life.
"By 2002, Parks was suffering from dementia and faced some financial difficulties. Parks could not pay her rent and relied on a local church to cover the costs for a time." -from an internet biography web site
Sadly most blacks are fairly racist.
Now we have all this equality, and more than that and we still pretend the Klan is roving up and down the streets.
America is full of heroes best only remembered for one thing, Like George Washington and his cherry tree.
Most don't need to know he was nicknamed the father of our country cause she slept with any woman with a pulse and died of pnemonia running out of a married womans home naked in the rain.
The country would not have been founded had the necessary compromises been made.REmember the context of the times then. Legislators and leaders need to compromise to get to an agreement sometimes. The majority of them released their slaves upon death if not before. A number of them sewed the seeds for eventually what led to the Civil War which resolved part of the problem.
That bit on Washington was a blatant lie. You are a tool. Congratulations.
Saying, I was born in 1952, in a rural town in the South, and yep racism all over the place. Of course at the age I was, I had no idea.
This story is probably correct. It is unforunate, but more than likely true.
A wonderful and needed article. Rosa Parks was a serious civil rights activist who thought long and hard about what she was about to do. She also took seriously the murder of Emmett Till, and when this took place, she spoke to Emmett's mother and decided the time had finally come. The misrepresentation of her in white history books as weak is another example of why we must pay attention to how history is taught and told. Thanks for the great history lesson!
Nah.... except for the part where she speaks of bestiality. She basically called herself an "animal". If she thinks of herself as an animal, then is it any wonder so many look at blacks as being animal-like, and why so many blacks act that way?
150 years have passed, time for the black man to stop his whining about slavery, economics, and blah blah blah, and bootstrap themselves in this land of opportunity. Colin Powell did it. Bill Cosby did it too. As did Rev. King and many others... all rose above the fray so many others put in their way. They came. They conquered. And they all leave us better off in spite of ourselves.
Now, in only mr. obama could do the same.
Obviously you are petty and ignorant- read a children's dictioanry before you make your "arguments". And, yes, you are a coward who would have never meassured to Parks.
As a black, Obama used subtile racism to not only get elected first, but also his second term.
Come on, 4 days before election all the news out let start talking about racism in America but only the white vs everyone else.
Last I checked no white man get a job on status quo or business get tax breaks for making him the majority of the staff in a company.
Every other race gets bonuses.
Amen to that brother, I don't see a caucasian american fund for white people to go to college. I don't see a white history month. A bunch of black guys beat up a white guy, it's a beat down, but a bunch of white guys beat up a black guy and it's racially motivated. When is everyone going to let go of what happened in the past. Are we responsible for what someone else did 150 years ago? nope.
@Mattie
Stop complaining. Whites are the numerical and political majority. There are OBLIGATIONS to being the majority just like there are privileges to being in a numerical and political minority. Let me know when you're ready to give up all that power and privilege.
Just wow @ blade & Mattie. I really get angry when I hear black people called racist. Use your dictionary sometimes. It just doesn't ring true. Black people aren't the ones claiming superiority over other races or trying to control them. What we wanted was the equality we deserved and to live normal lives.
If we dislike or distrust the people who enslaved our ancestors – taking them away from their country, culture, language and people then proceeding to treat them like trash – can we really be called racist just like they are? We actually have a reason beyond race to dislike or distrust white people. What was their reason in the first place? I'd say just because of our race. Racism!
Who has it better though. Would you rather be hated for something awful that happened in the past that you can apologize for and try to make things better, or be hated for being black which you can do nothing about?
So when slavery ended by decree, all races were on equal terms at that point...
and blacks were suddenly invited to enjoy all advantages available to the ruling class...
Forced desegregation did not guarantee that ALL teachers would actually
care about the education of ALL students. You read between the lines...
Equal opportunity makes people like you whine – 'I want my country back!!!'
What you really desire is a system that mantains your superiority based
on your color alone.
'm sure you honestly believe that if your ancestors were held in bondage without
education for 200 years – you would have been valedictorian over students with
parents who obtained some education over this time....
No matter what happened 200 years ago, when a student is in class they have an opportunity. They have an opportunity to listen, read and learn. There are poor, uneducated people from every corner of this country. Ignorance and poverty are color blind. Those that have participated in the education system have done better than those that don't. Human beings tend to root for the underdog – I can't speak for all human beings, just the tendencies of the majority. If one truly wants see the big picture, one only has to broaden their scope. Making excuses is what one does either before or after failure. I see all too often that the excuse is offered before the attempt – how is that going to help make things better?
" I really get angry when I hear black people called racist. " Plenty of them go to nutty churches where they say mean stuff about "white devils," so I'd call that racism. But most of them have a good grasp of logic as applied to skin color.
Oh and any white president did such a bad job they'd been impeached. Obama screwedup so bad but you point it out your "racist"
He's right. We can't bring impeachment allegations against Obama because the entire world would say it was racially motivated.
We had 8 years of a president who did a far worse job than Obama. Even Republicans didn't mention his name throughout the whole election cycle this time. Who's kidding who?
Thanks for the information about the Till case, Susan. Do you have any idea of the source of your story that Rosa Parks visited Emmett Till's mother and decided the time had come?
She's lying about me.
Awesome.
Scott, you really need to stop with your incoherent rambling. Maybe you didn't notice the picture to the right of the story, but the story was written by a white woman! So take your senseles, rambling rhetoric, beef-jerky to her.
Say truth. Why is it I get this weird feeling you sit up late night shining your Lugar and listening to Favorite Songs of the Third Riech while a candle blows gently under a life-size picture of Adolf Hitler? Just a hunch bud...God bless the ole G.O.P. you guys...gotta love em. Or be attacked by em...
You are an idiot, white females are well known black loving race traitors. Her being a white female does not give any credence to fairness towards white men. She is a racist just like any black militant.
Ms. McGuire,
Whats up wit yo eye bro? You look creepy
So only blacks have to realize we are all Americans? Give me a break! If u want people to believe that you don't like separatists then I recommend that you don't do it in your comments.
You miss the point. EVERYONE. In fact, forgive me, screw the term "race" there is NO race. We are all one. It is a genetic fact. I have had black friends complain about mistreatment by the whites but as far as I'm concerned the colors are blurred. Its based on DNA which dictates we are ALL AS ONE. No one will understand that until an asteroid slams into this planet and guess what? Try to differentiate then...
I really lovely, inspiring and insightful story with significant information. However, I'd like to correct one misinformation in the story. The one about who came to the defense of the Scottsboro boys. It wasn't the NAACP but the American Communist Party to stepped up to take on the case, which was primarily made up of whites, many females. They were originally turned down by the NAACP when they were contacted. The NAACP didn't want the stigma attached to their organization just in case the young men turned out to be guilty. It was only after the case got national, and possibly worldwide attention, that the NAACP decided to step in and take over the case, but by then the young men and their families turned down the NAACPs offer to take over and stuck with having the American Communist Party defend them. I forget the name of the attorney the Communist Party hired, but I think he was from New York.
Also, meant to add: Rosa Parks wasn't a member of the NAACP during the Scottsboro Case. She would join the NAACP later. But she did work to help defend the young men.
In response to The Truth: I don't think you are reading the article carefully enough. McGuire did not say that the NAACP was where she worked on the Scottsboro case back in the 1930s. The Communist Party did play a central role in fighting to free the Scottsboro defendants, and the NAACP was reluctant, though they did a huge amount of work on the case, too, before it was over. Parks was no stranger to the American left; when she put together the Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor in 1944, she drew on networks from the labor movement and the church and a great many left-wing groups, some of whom were no doubt affiliated with the CP. McGuire was not writing on that subject, but there is nothing for you to correct. She had it right; she just did not go into telling the Scottsboro story in any depth for obvious reasons.
Tim Tyson, the NAACP only got involved after they saw the attention the Scottsboro case was receiving. They're pretty much like that today. In that they most often only get involved after someone else or some other human rights group has done all the leg work. After the families of the Scottboro men were turned away by the NAACP and the American Communist Party took up the case, when the NAACP went back and offered to take over the case from the American Communist Party the Scottsboro men and their family basically told the NAACP "You didn't want to get involve then so we 're sticking with who we have now." Rosa Parks likely was involved with the Scottsboro case when it took place, but not as a member of the NAACP. She did belong to another smaller human rights activists organization at the time.
She's not a reporter, she's an author. Every single author can't write about every single event in history. Idiot.
"I try to block out of my mind how badly blacks were treated in this country. I just pick a segment of their population, acknowledge their shortcomings, and it helps me block out the guilt...."
-Backwoods Poster
I am a 45 year old white man living in a predominantly black neighborhood in the south. Everyone who has wronged me in my life has been white. I realize that is not the case for everyone, but it is for me. That's why I try very hard to judge people on their actions, not by anything else.
I think it's hard to know who the real Rosa Parks was – because the media so often distorts things. I never saw her as just a quiet and courageous but tired seamstress who one day decided to sit in the front of a bus. (I am very glad she did – but i think this is partly a made up story). She had very actively worked for NAACP for decades when the bus incident happened and been secretary of NAACP. They had been trying to fight the law for years unsuccessfully when others opposed it, but with Rosa Parks they were finally able to. The injustice to blacks she fought against over the years made her a very courageous woman and she should be remembered and honored for that – thank god she was able to further the cause. I personally doubt the essay is from her, think you would have heard something about it during her lifetime and think it is really a shame when people make things up or distort things.
It's almost sad that people were made to believe she was this little seamstress that decided not to give up her seat. I think had people known of her background with the NAACP it wouldn't have made her stand any less impowered. Not sure why the media can't ever report things with complete truth. The cameras were there to record this into history because the NAACP knew what would happen. Doesn't make Rosa Parks any less of a person to look up to.
"The crime statistics of today totally annihilate the treatment of blacks as slaves and second class citizens. What's the internet again?"
-Backwoods Poster
What is the point of this strawman bs?
"everyone who disagrees with me is racist and stupid"
-Supremacist_beater
So, I guess, we should totally ignore the blacks that are educated, have jobs, and are helping the world turn around.
Your comparison is like me saying all Euros are Nazis. Totally devoid of logic.
John, do you knowthe definition of a ghetto? Little Italy is a ghetto, Chinatown is a ghetto. The trailer park you live in? Most likely a ghetto.
The first person to successfully perform open heart surgery was a black man, so be sure to tell your presumably white doctor to stopp leeching off his success
lol...seeing as how people in the old times were enslaved, beaten, and raped, maybe this country needed socialism. #common_sense 🙂
Can anyone say White Guilt?
The trees would have been better than that backwoods trash in the front of the bus. 🙂
Better known version of it's cousin: WHITE DENIAL
I deny they are human
Yes, Tim, because real capitalists rape and brutalize Black women and force them defer to the public transportation pleasures of white men and women. You are so obviously superior to me. Any attempts to protect myself from your privilege is so obviously Marxist. Thank you for sharing.
.
@ Cappy: What a delight to read your reply. Very clever. I don't have those skills when talking to stupid people. Thanks for teaching me a little bit of it.
Thank you for sharing your writing with us. I have often wondered about Ms. Parks and his history. You have checked off a major "to do" item on my "to do" list. Much appreciated.
I am a white conservative male. I think Rosa Parks is a hero, because she is a hero, not because I want to join some kind of "in crowd." What's the big deal? ALL l parts of our history must be told to the young people. Racism of ANY kind is wrong, period.
I think she is a hero too ... but I'm not too big on the woman trying to cash in on Rosa's name.
I'm also a white conservative male. And I think Audie Murphy is a hero... one who embodies what the word "hero" means, and not the cheapened, two-bit dime-store version you apply to people like Rosa Parks, Magic Johnson, or Rev. King.
Sad that all those called "heroes" are not even remotely close to the courage, integrity, tenacity, and valor of a 17-year old boy. Sadder still that so many of you cheapen the word "hero" the way you do.
I think both Audie Murphy and Rosa Parks were both heroes. If history serves me correct, the military didnt allow Blacks to fight in the war at the time Mr. Murphy served. Mr. Murphy was actually fighting for the same rights Rosa Parks was being denied. As a conservative who is neither Black nor white, if I pay the same fare for a seat on the bus, I should be able to sit wherever I want. Also, unlike Mr. Murphy, Rosa Parks did not enjoy her celebrity status; she had to leave her home due to constant death threats...from other Americans.
TJ – you've cheapened the person you refer to as a hero!!!
Quite right. She did, in fact, say that she was not physically tired. She did not, however, go looking to start things that evening. She originally sat in the front of the colored only section. When the driver noticed whites standing, he moved the whites section back and told Ms. Parks and 3 others to move. The others did. She did not. This same driver had forced her to reenter the bus through the rear entrance after paying her fare and left her to walk home in the rain when she attempted to do so. This happened in 1943.
@ Carl-"...white folk..." goodgod-that has an awful ring to it. We're in 2012, Carly-baby-and crimes of violence, injustice, and a plethora (look it up) of indignities are visited upon black people in the U.S. every minute of every day. Crawl back under that rock you just slithered out from. You're not representing all "white folk". I'm white-and you're white trash.
thought your dates looked off so checked. 1943 is when Rosa Parks was elected secretary of NAACP. the bus incident was 1955.
A very good article. I am not politically correct and have no problem calling trash what it is, black or white, by the correct name. However, it is wrong to judge someone or deny rights to someone based upon skin color.
White Women have finally said enough is enough. The day of the white man treating their women as slaves has ended.
You were the last to be allowed to vote and on November 6,2012 you let it all hang out.
lol, no race of female anywhere in the world at any time in history has been as pampered and spoiled as the white female. White females have no idea how good they have had it compared to other races of women, they are spoiled brats who take the flavor of what is currently socially acceptable, which currently is racism against white men.
You betray a blinkered view of the world when you think "white women" are treated better than other women around the world. US voters have yet to vote the first woman President. A number of countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe have had female prime ministers. As another example, in muslim societies, women retained property after marriage, while in the US and UK until the mid-19th century their property was transferred to the groom after marriage. The first wife of the prophet Muhammed also happened to be a successful businesswoman who hired him to take her merchant caravans to syria before deciding to marry him. Granted that fanatical muslims (and even many "pious muslims" who may not be violent but are as rigid in their views as any "pious christian" or "pious anything") see women as second class citizens. But that does not change the fact that what you say is basically incorrect.
and naturally, that comment would come from a man....
You sound like a teenager who was turned down for a date for the prom. Ultimately childish and spiteful.
I have noticed that a lot of white girls like this Danielle McGuire have taken racial sides with blacks and other minorities against white men. This racial self hatred is not healthy. They seem like they are trying to put all the injustices of the past on the shoulders of white men which isn't fair at all, considering these white females are the ones who gave birth to and raised these "evil white men". If it's a crime to be a white man, then it also has to be a crime to be a white girl. It seems to me that these left wing white girls are desperately trying to distance themselves from white men, to the point of treating us like another enemy race to somehow stop their perceived wrath against white people from blacks and other races. Calling yourself a left wing liberal isn't going to shield you against a black rapist who wants to rape and kill you. They won't care white girl, just ask the hundreds of thousands of white females that have been raped by blacks just in the last 10 years.
Why does someone who stands up for injustice have to be liberal? Do consevatives hate justice?
They are more likely to be more authoritarian minded and follow along with anything the majority does. The majority at the time being white old and angry and racist.
When did being right make someone a liberal?
It just happens to work out that way mostly..
yes, I'm sure a white female who writes a book promoting black power is a Romney voter and a Republican. And living in Detroit, most likely has to black kids. Please......
Because this woman admires a courageous African American, that means she hates white men? That is some sick and twisted "logic" from someone who, I have to assume, is a total racist and probably a misogynist as well. And I guarantee you that far more African American women have been raped by white men than white women by African American men.
Whoa! John, Christopher and others who felt like this was a shot at white males: take a cold shower and a quick course in reading comprehension. This didn't seem accusatory to me, my manhood wasn't challenged, my skin and ethnicity were not disrespected. In fact, it was an inspiring story of a woman who maintained her dignity while experiencing horrible disrespect. If you felt this was unfair to you, you don't start to measure-up to Ms Parks, and I wonder what it was that you felt this accused you of having done.
@ John: Now we know your brilliant thoughts about "white girls". Why did you pick on them? Perhaps you'd like to tell us about the "hundreds of thousands"... (Wow. What're you smoking to write that kind of clap-trap? Almost any fool (except you) knows that the criminal element in the lower-economic class of black people commit "black-on-black crime". Go find some bircher meeting and spew that garbage there. Now that you've plastered your evil propaganda about "white girls", pray tell? What are your statistics regarding white women, dumbo?
Wow, now there is Mitt Romney's base coming to the fore. The Angry white victim. Poor you. Its people like you who just deserve to treated just like you've treated others for so long. Its called Karma, bub.
cross generational Karma is nasty eh?
answering sins of fathers on children is what racism is all about.
asking for modern white men to answer for the sins of slavery IS racism. they owe a debt based on skin color, not personal actions or content of character.
not until all whites can see thru this will equality be possible. depraved blacks will ask for the moon as long as whites bow down to them. when guilty whites stop bowing to depraved blacks equality can be planted.
affirmative action only perpetuates racism, but guilty whites will not let it die. reasonable blacks would never ask for this, only depraved ones.
John;
Think before you open your mouth and insert your foot. Posting negative non-sense, and people will never take you serious. Facts are facts, and no matter how much you hate it, get over it. My grandfather always sais to me, what you do in the dark will one day come to light. So make a choice, and post facts. No words or thoughts from your derriere.
Another white girl promoting black power. There seems to be a lot of that these days, I think these white females worship blacks like gods and don't give a flip about their own races' men or any victims of black violence. Black on white rape and murder doesn't bother these white leftists at all. There entire focus is on white on black incidents and if they are non existent, they just recycle stories from a lifetime ago as if it just happened. This is why I will not marry or have children with a white woman because I don't want my own daughters thinking of me as a racial enemy like the white female who wrote this article does.
Christopher, I think you are strange or weird.
--
If a left winger thinks of me as bad or weird, that is a compliment. I'm glad I disturb you, you already have a disturbed mind, why not be a little more bothered?
So who would you marry? A man?
It it safe to assume then Christopher that you are a gay male?
I have the same feeling.
oh lord , yes i would.i would marry any woman of any color if she was mentally strong, and self-assured. race means nothing, it's personality, baby.rowr.
Seriously disturbed idiot. And just looking for attention it seems. Pathetic you have to play at being a racist to get anyone to notice you. Maybe you could get someone to notice you by walking in the dark on the nearest freeway?
its pathetic how many of the responses he gets are direct personal attacks.
This is called "ad hominem". Its when instead of discussing the subject, you attack your opponent.
If he said something wrong point it out. If he says something right that you leaves you speechless, attack him personally.
It is a good article, but I never thought of Rosa Parks as a simple, submissive seamstress. The very act of refusing to move on that bus took a courage that is beyond the ability of people who move through life afraid of offending others. Whether the activity on the bus was her only act of courage the world saw or not, the fact she had that courage, that day, screams that she was a woman who understood that sometimes you have to take risks if you want a life worth living.
I disagree.
When you belong to a lower social class with less priveledges you arent a hero for letting society attack you head on.
What she did was sit. The act itself required no effort, did no personal or public good, produced nothing.
I believe in racial equality, and what happened to her was wrong, but for someone to resist social norms because they dont want to move or stand is an act of stubbornness, not heroism.
There are many social norms that I disagree with on a moral visceral level that are very important to me. Yet if I take a stand I will become a general pariah. I hardly think it would make me a hero to subject myself to a landslide of opposition over a social norm.
I dont think Rosa Parks was ever been put in her proper context. Heroes dont blindly ignore the wishes of society at large over something so simple as which seat you take on a bus. That is an egotistical line-in-the-sand a mule stubborn person takes when they are really, really tired.
Empirically reducing that to a person against the unfair expectations of society.
The fund of ignorance behind your pontifical take on this matter is breathtaking, Notsurprised. You equate a crime against humanity to a social norm. Well, you may be right, because that is how many of those who cynically brutalized the humanity of a whole race of people pretended to think of it. And I am aware that many still privately think such thoughts and wish they had the wherewithal to continue living in accordance with them. You brazenly admit to be one among such.
Unfortunately your words sounds like they are refurbished from the minds of a white man, or a white with ties to inhumane blood from your families generation. When I read your post, it felt to me your blood pressure started to rise. I can read this in your posts, and every post you type. When the soul of a human has good intentions it allows the mind of the person with the good intentions to allow the truth be what it is. In order to keep a slave, or in prison a human one have to feed, and care for them. Swine thrown to slaves as guts, feet, and tails is one way slaves were feed. What would be your take on whether this may have seemed inhumane. This is your chance to prove to us you are a sane person,. Think before you insert foot.
Notsurprised, now it is the social norm to call you out for being a bigot, a racist, a dissident historical revisionist pedaling stone-age tribal warfare in possession of a dangerous mental sickness, out of touch and an embarrassment to civilized society, but try not to be stubborn about society's judgment. Accept it. It's your fate.
Not only have you missed the point of the article, but your writing has the flavor of a person just on the brink of a psychotic break, as if there is some inner dialogue you are finding increasingly difficult to conceal. Tell us, what are some of these social norms by which you are so quietly imprisoned? Should we fear being in the same shopping mall on that day when you ultimately loose control? Is there a cry for help we missing?
Trump and Palin are laughing at you, you moron.
Rosa Parks' history as an activist is well known, so this article isn't much news, but I am astounded by the racist reaction it has provoked.
So am I! I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, but really, this level of white supremacy is disturbing.
well, a racist in today's society doesn't stand much chance, out of the closet. In public, the racist would be called out immediately.so behind closed doors and internet connections they go, to spew this hate and drivel the way their folks used to back in the day.
quite true. Unfortunately, the obvious trolling is less frightening than many of the " in your face" pundits and politicians who wear their Birtherism and racism as a badge of honor. Yes, Congressman Joe Walsh, FORMER Mass. Senator Scott Brown , D. Trump , et al. i mean you!!!
Rosa Parks would be beaten to death for her necklace and running shoes in da hood.
Another white female promoting black power. Sickening.
This is racial warefare against white people by left wing networks which CNN is one of.
Blacks have murdered and raped far more white people than the other way around, the statistics are STAGGERINGLY one sided, yet white victims of black violence and rape get absolutely no attention and are brushed under the rug in favor or recycling 60 year old incidents like Rosa parks. It isis disturbing and disgusting how even WHITES are promoting racial warefare against whites. They create their own false world and ignore the real world. The world this left wing white female lives in is not the real world.
I take it you voted for Romney?
Master one line quipper – nice work – how many posts before release?
You see, christopher, you are making a distinction between black and white.Why?We are all Human.My father was racist, very racist, as was his father.Why am i not?I was smart enough to learn for Myself about other races and to experience social interactions with them, not to see them as different because of physical things.we are all different shades, my friend.
Racism remains a deep and malevolent current in our country.We have come far, but we have so very far to go. Peace.
Very well said, Steve. Also, very saddening.
Oh, good one! Best joke I have seen all year!! LOL!!!!
You have no one in your life do you Palintwit. You are sad.
See...we can also make stupid names for our comments ! Thanks for setting a precedent for this "news" article. And I bet you are here to remove comments you don't like.
Not even trying to hide your racism are you? What ever happened to Sarah Palin anyway. Quite a fall for a VP candidate.
A lot of white guilt going around these days.
I don't have any guilt. My grandparents came to this country from Italy in the early 19th century. They worked hard to support their family and they never took a dime from anybody. And they had it TOUGH. My grandfather used to tell me about the cops rounding up all the young Italian men when some goomba pulled a robbery. They hated the thugs. The rejected the thug lifestyle.
Today in the black community, the thug lifestyle is glorified. And Rosa Parks would've been mugged and beaten by some clack wearing a hoodie. And no one would say a word to the cops because that would be snitching.
Go figure.
You are apparently not aware then that Rosa Parks was, in fact, attacked and robbed just a few years before she died.
Italian thuggery is glorified as well. From The Godfather to Jersey Shore. U must be so proud
lord, can we find some new heros, mayeb even gasp a white one
There are plenty of heros that are white... 43 of the 44 POTUS... What's wrong with a black hero?
how about jesse jackson, al sharpton, jesse jackson jr, sandy jackson. They are the heroes of the AFAmericans. No more crooked than what's in the WH
you want a hero, look to the police officer who helped the homeless man.didn't ask questions, just..helped.Everyone on here complaining back n forth, when is the last time you went out n helped someone yourself?
Not suprise by the behavior of white men back then....just look at most black Americans...their skins are light,med brown in color....NOT many "black" Americans
It couldn't be from recent black men loving on white women, now...could it???
Not back in the day. At that time white men had possession of EVERYTHING.
Short answer, I don't care. Long answer, I don't care.
And we don't care that you don't care.
Then why did you bother to post? You are the problem. Nothing to do and nothing to say.
Because sometimes some of us get so tired of seeing the inane, stupid and insipid retorts to articles written about GOOD Amercans. Folks who stood for something other than seeing their worthless thoughts expressed where others DO NOT CARE to see them, Got it?
I agree with everything that you have writtenTyran. You have to respect everybody history and My respect for Mrs. Parks is in the highest she was a fighter and I ride on her back and many others this day and everyday of our life.
somebody is fixated on these divisions. i don't think it is the democrats, who are the big tent party. rosa parks was a badass free thinking lady. she would be above this ruckus...
They have changed the means, but the intended ends are still the same. It was the klan for the Democrats, now it is the great society. The oppression, control, and deny of the American dream for people of color has been consistent throughout the entire history of the Democrat party.
Go observe how the living conditions are for those who are in districts that are 100% ruled by Democrats and have been for decades. A free phone and an EBT card can in no way make up for the war zones Democrats have created through their politicians and their gangs. These districts have people of all colors who are being oppressed by the Democrat party, but you cannot deny that most of the victims are people of color.
The oppression is not effective because of skin color, National Socialists like the Democrats have oppressed and controlled people of all races in all corners of the globe. Like the Democrat Eichmann posting here, some are ignorant but most know what they support and are just that evil to do so knowingly.
Standing up for what you believe in happens every day with every nationality on many different issues. So What. It is boring unless it is about what you find important. Parks is boring. Her story, friends and politics are not what I find interesting or good for me. I don't even know how she pulls off the African-American claim. She looks like a darkish White...possibly a Sicilian... just like Soledad O'Brien.
I expect you are a very young "Lord." If you had lived in that time and been cognizant of what was going on even you would be appalled at the behavior of whites.
How pathetic
Look at the FBI's uniform crime report of 2011. Last year there were over 23,000 Black on White tapes reported and ZERO White on Black rapes reported. And yet an "almost" White on Black rape from the 50's gets a book written about it and headline articles. Haha
Actually, not even an "almost", a fictional account...
As the article said " A New History" It is a rewriting of the past to fit a narrative..
It didn't have to happen like so many other things dished out by the political elite. As long as it serves their purpose.
Exactly. I think it's funny when people say "You can't change history". Actually, history is the easiest thing in the world to change...if you don't like the old one, just write a new one.
There are Democrats of all colors and every single one of them dreams of seeing Sarah Palin and other Conservative females raped. Skin color is meaningless, there is good and bad in all tones. However ideology tells you everything, as there is no good in the heart of any Democrat, they are all infested by hate, lies, and a desire to oppress and punish anyone who speaks the truth about 'dem.
Still angry about losing that election?
This article wasn't about the number of White on Black "tapes" or Black on White ones. It was about one of the greatest people in our nation's history, and who she really was. There is no need to make this a Black v. White thing.
Exactlty right, Uncle.
What are black on white tapes, Kevin? Are we talking cassettes? 8-tracks? Or duct tape?
On a more serious note, beyond the fact that you got your stats from a white supremecist web site and that the FBI director at that time was a raving racist (among his other sins), you can't seriously believe that Jim Crow states allowed accusations by black women against white men to go on record, could you?
Keep spreading it – sometimes it was true, does not make it "always" true.
Crime sucks
You support the great society genocide going on today in every inner city district that is 100% ruled by the Democrat party and has been for the last 4 decades.
Take the most racist CNN poster, you are 10x more evil than that person. Find a mirror and yell at it, that is if you really want to tell off a true bigot.
How is this anti-white to you? I am reading a story about a woman whose mistreatment at the hands of others has been buried. History wants to hide the greater indignities that Ms. Parks suffered, because history favors the victors. It's hard to reconcile your more peaceful present with the brutal past it continues to rely on. Since you used the phrase, "European-Americans," I'm going to assume this won't have any effect on you, but whatever. I'll give it a shot.
OH the vaporous Mr. Charlie rapist....back of the bus.... bla bla bla. Endless CNN dialog on the poor defenseless oppressed minions striking back against the nasty European Americans. Give it a rest. You are a burden, but that was not my point.
The holocust victims were real, so were the 9/11 victims. Even Rosa Parks close friends believe this to be a work of fiction. The author is just ignoring that though. It's ok to talk about America's racist past, but it's not ok to make up a past to do it and to use iconic historical figures that way. It's bad enough that Hollywood distorts history, its inexcusable for historians to do it.
Spot on John.
Oh spare me with that "white man's burden" crap. White people are just fine. The author of this article is talking about the fact that Rosa Parks passion for fighting racism run deeper than just that moment that she refused to give up her seat on the bus. NO ONE IS PUTTING WHITE PEOPLE DOWN! You just feel that way because you refuse to accept that racism exsist. So when anyone talks about race in any way, you accuse them of being racist. The article was about Rosa Parks, not white Europeans!
So what is the agenda? Why can't we talk about America's anti-black past without people getting defensive? No one is call YOU racist, it just the history. Would you say this if Rosa Parks was Jewish talking about the horrors of the holocaust?
What I'm referring to is that the rape story is thought to be a hoax by most, and unproven at best. The author is trying to reshape Rosa Parks to push her rape history book.
It wasn't a laughing matter back then.
@cessie- I couldn't agree more cessie look at the idiotic statements you are allowed to shout out and they publish that.
Whew how inane is that
Everyone should know Rosa Parks – Douglas Brinkley's Rosa Parks biography should be required high school reading. She wasn't the first to do what she did, but she became the face of the Civil Right's Movement and deserves her place in history. The bus incident was the result of a "perfect storm" of situations starting with the racist bus driver who had treated her badly on another occasion. Even today, we have similar bravery displayed by Malala Yousafzai standing up to the Taliban. These are facinating, inspiring stories and should be told and retold to future generations.
Funny thing about historical figures. You can shape them to fit any agenda you want to push.
Maybe we could hear from that total bore Don Lemon. He always has a sad story and some righteous indignation to impart on the world.
Aside from music and a whole lot of talking .... Is there anything else ?
Please retire. Your 12 year old approach to discussion is so boring.