The topic of civil rights in the United States is extensive, with many events contributing to the advancement of liberties for all citizens. Rosa Parks together with Martin Luther King are the two commonly known civil rights advocates. However, most citizens in the United States do not know enough about Park’s life and the protests she contributed to as part of her civil rights advocacy. This paper will summarize articles by Huso, NewsMakers, and Theoharis to discuss the details of Park’s legacy.
Parks is a famous figure in the history of this country and specifically in the context of Civil Rights. Huso describes her primary contribution as “sitting down to take a stand” (82). The activist refused to walk out of a bus when asked to give up her seat for a white person. While in modern-day America, the context of events may be challenging to understand, at that time, racial segregation was a legal norm. However, many citizens, including Parks, protested against the unfair treatment for years.
The famous events happened in Montgomery, a city in Alabama. At that time, Parks was 42 years old, taking a seat in the black section of local public transport (Huso 82). A common perception of these events is that Parks was exhausted after a long day of working, but Huso argues that her actions were a result of a growing civil rights movement (82). Hence, Parks’ actions were not an example of spontaneous defiance but instead a well-planned effort to oppose the segregation policy. A bus with white and black sections was just one example of how the country treated its citizens from a legal viewpoint.
The bus boycott contributed significantly to the civil rights movement in the United States. The initiator, Parks, was arrested and fined a sum of $14 after these events (“Rosa Parks”). This did not stop Parks from engaging in civil rights advocacy in the future. Moreover, with this protest, Parks risked being abused physically, apart from facing legal consequences, due to the social tensions in Montgomery (Huso 82; “Rosa Parks”). These details point to the idea that Park’s actions were more than a protest of a woman tired after a long day at work—it was her statement against segregation and racism.
Although Parks’ most recognized contribution is the bus protest, she has been a civil rights advocate for years and has contributed to the movement in other ways as well. According to Theoharis, the conversations about Rosa Parks and her achievements often avoid the “uncomfortable truths” that do not allow one to understand racism in America completely. For example, the famous mug shot that American students see in their history textbooks was not taken after her most famous action—refusal to leave a bus. In fact, this photo was taken at the sheriff’s office a year later, after Parks and 88 other individuals were arrested for protesting in 1956 (Theoharis).
Parks was arrested a year after for a protest, yet the majority of the American citizens know only a part of her contribution to the civil rights movement and misinterpret the famous image. Therefore, much clarification is needed to ensure that race and the history of civil rights are interpreted correctly.
The issue with misinterpreting Park’s contribution is that her work towards the advancement of Civil Rights is seen as merely one action—the bus boycott. Parks is viewed by many Americans as a typical middle-class woman of her time (Huso, 82; Theoharis). However, Parks has engaged in protests years before this event. Theoharis cites one of her interviews where Parks notes: “over the years, I have been rebelling against second-class citizenship. It didn’t begin when I was arrested.” She continued to protest years after the bus boycott as well.
Among Parks’ contributions to the advancement of civil rights, there are multiple legal disputes. For example, she and her husband were engaged in protecting the “Scottsboro Boys,” who were nine black men accused of raping white women. These accusations were false, yet the prosecution was determined to sentence the men. Moreover, she helped other falsely accused black men and women whose words were not taken seriously by the police (Theoharis). Therefore, it is vital to recognize the contribution of Rosa Parks to the advancement of civil rights in the country fully, including the advocacy and the protests she initiated or helped plan. Her actions were not an act of defiance but a part of Park’s lifelong protest.
In conclusion, this paper is a summary of articles by Huso, NewsMakers, and Theoharis. These texts explore the contribution of Rosa Parks to the advancement of equal rights. Although all authors acknowledge her well-renounced bus boycott, they also cite other actions of Parks as necessary for civil rights. Hence, the bus boycott was not Parks’ defiance but instead was a part of her long battle against segregation. She helped organize the protection of falsely accused black men and aided black women who were not trusted by the police. Moreover, Parks was arrested a year after the bus boycott for participating in a protest with 88 other individuals.
Works Cited
Huso, Deborah. “Sitting Down to Take a Stand: Rosa Parks’ Actions Advanced the Fight for Civil Rights.” Gale In Context: Biography, 2011. Web.
“Rosa Parks.” Gale In Context: Biography, 2007. Web.
Theoharis, Jeanne. “Rosa Parks’s Real Story.” New York Times, 2021. Web.