The "real" Rosa Parks is the woman who disobeyed the unjust law of segregation by refusing to give her seat in white section to a white person. Her disobedience fueled the long bus boycott in Montgomery that earned her the title ‘mother of the civil rights movements’. However, we learn that the idea to disobey the unjust bus laws was not entirely her original idea. Her idea was inspired by Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old hero who refused to move to the back of the bus ( Loeb, 2006).
It is important for us to know the real story of Rosa Parks so as to honor the efforts of the true heroes in our society. Heroes like Parks influence our images of social commitment and thus it is important to have knowledge and understanding of how change actually took place. Parks and others activists worked effortlessly in frustrating environment to address the unjust laws of segregation, which most people enjoy now in the United States. We also learn that her actions that day was an intentional effort to challenge injustice and thus was not accidental. Additionally, her actions were contributed by the fact that she was attending a local NAACP meeting, and disobeying the law was the first step in changing history ( Loeb, 2006).
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The real story of Colvin and Parks idea of disobeying segregation laws has remained hidden because the NAACP did not think they were ideal persons to be the leader of the movements. First Colvin was young so they thought she cannot be the face of the movement. Parks was depicted as a lone pioneer of the movement, which creates a false idea that any individual taking a committed public stand needs to be someone with more knowledge, vision, courage, energy, and time as opposed to what any normal person could have. Also, hero’s impact on social commitment of citizens that could result in them inspiring conscience, hope, and courage, and developing bold and visionary stands causing to gather momentum and influencing events of change. Challenging the law is what the institution of power do not want ( Loeb, 2006).
The society like talking about stories like everyday citizens rather than political activists because of the conventional portrayal that makes it difficult for people to get involved in things to do with politics. For example, the heroism of Colvin is not talked about so that the memories of these events could disappear and lack understanding of the mechanisms that grassroots social movements have applied to articulate public sentiments in the past and fight against the unjust institutional power ( Loeb, 2006).
Reference
Loeb, P. R. (2006). The Real Rosa Parks. UTNE-MINNEAPOLIS , 133 , 54.Retrieved from: http://www.paulloeb.org/articles/rosaparks.htm
