Tribute to Rosa Parks
TRIBUTE TO ROSA PARKS -- (Extensions of Remarks - October 28, 2005)
SPEECH OF
HON. AL GREEN
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2005
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, civil disobedience is the foundation of our democracy. Rosa Parks showed us that it was our duty, not just our right, to demand equal treatment and equal opportunity.
When this Montgomery resident decided to remain seated and actively resist, she catapulted the civil rights movement into a new kind of decisive action.
Ms. Parks, working as a seamstress, initially became involved with the civil rights movement through her work as a secretary for the Montgomery branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP). Her involvement heightened when she declined to give up her seat on a bus for a white man. In Ms. Parks' autobiography, My Story, she says that she was ``tired of giving in'' that day she decided not to give up her seat.
I am thankful that Ms. Parks was tired. She was tired of being treated as a second class citizen; tired of seeing her friends, family and fellow brothers and sisters being put upon by dogs and hoses; and most importantly, tired of being silenced in her own country.
It was due to her desire for social justice and her longing for equality that she chose to make a statement by refusing to rise. Her actions, along with those of many, awakened this Nation. It is because of their unwavering commitment to fighting against injustice and to realize the dream and vision of this nation's forefathers--that this country was forced to look at itself in the mirror and change what it saw.
Mr. Speaker, I am particularly aware of the contribution Ms. Parks' made by this act of civil disobedience. Rosa Park's actions were the spark. The spark that allowed the civil rights movement to progress and move forward under the leadership of a relatively unknown minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Up until that point, litigation was the primary method the civil rights movement employed, but Rosa Parks marked the beginning of a new strategy, one of civil disobedience. Bus boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides were just some of the tactics. While the Montgomery Bus Boycott was not the first boycott, it was the first to last as long as it did, over one year, resulting in a monumental court ruling and setting the civil rights movement on a new course.
Ms. Parks' landmark Supreme Court case resulted in the ruling that segregated bus service was unconstitutional, unconstitutional not just because segregation on transportation affected interstate commerce, but segregation was unconstitutional in itself.
After the boycott, non-violence became the central tenet of the movement as civil rights leaders organized at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with the goal of providing local leaders with the necessary tools to mount successful campaigns for justice.
It is because of the many sacrifices of people like Ms. Parks, the personal risks they took, that I, as an African American, can stand before my fellow Americans as a United States Congressman. While we have made great strides in the past 50 years, yet there is still progress to be made. I want to thank all of those that are continuing the fight for justice and equality as they honor the legacy of Rosa Parks.
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