She refused to give up her seat, good for her, I respect that. Was she the first person to do so, no. Others refused and were dealt with quite severely. Did she lead a movement to erradicate racism, no, but she was a figurehead of the movement.
She was a person that forced the nation to face it’s own bigotry, and I respect that. Rosa Parks should be respected. Should she lie in state in the rotunda, no.
We have much more worthy people of such honors for the same cause. IMHO a good headline does not a hero make.
She was also a major mover and shaker in the civil rights movement-prior to her arrest on the bus, she had been the secretary for a local chapter of the NAACP.
I think she counts as a bit more than a figurehead. After all, she volunteered to be the test case. And given that other were “dealt with severely”, that had to be a pretty courageous thing to do. She put herself in harm’s way to benefit others…that usually counts as heroic.
And as Giun noted she did more than that with the rest of her life.
Admittedly though the reason she’s in the rotunda etc. is mostly because she’s a symbol. But what are you going t do? People need their symbols.
You asked for it. Please name me a couple of living people who deserve this honor more than Rosa Parks. She was a symbol, but “figurehead,” “headline,” and “Jessica Lynch” are unfair. People tried to make Jessica Lynch a hero (not her fault), but Rosa Parks displayed real courage and her actions geniunely inspired people. The montgomery bus boycott was touched off by what she did, and who knows what the civil rights movement looks like without her.
Jesse Jackson and maybe Al Sharpton (I’m no expert). They devote their lives to the fair treatment and representaion of all African Americans. Rosa did one thing, then spent the rest of her life talking about that one thing. She changed things in a way, but did not change the world in a manner associated with a 4 year presidency of the most powerfull nation in the world.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton? No way. Both of them have shown repeatedly that what they really care about is being famous and getting attention. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are both borderline race baiters and Jackson is an unabashed grandstander.
Well, other than her refusal to move, she had utterly no controversy in her life. Which was one of the reasons she was choosen for the test of the rules. She was very even tempered and not likely to do anything to embarass the movement. If someone else had been chosen, they would potentially embarassed the movement during that time or in later years.
Having Miss Rosa lie in state is a fitting tribute for a whole country to acknowledge that a quiet person of no particular note can do a brave thing one day and make the country a better place, and that this woman did, and that we are better off because that moment started a change that we now all accept and call our own.
And renowned collector of give-me-money-or-suffer-claims-of-racism payoffs.
(Somebody puh-leese ask me for a cite. Google “Jesse Jackson” and “extortion” and you’ll get about 28,800 hits.)
Other than that, I think Rosa Parks is a fine hero for the civil rights movement. Not only was she a fine person in her own right, but she evidently, through either happenstance or charisma, found herself serving as a remarkable inspiration to others of how to fight racism with strength and dignity.
She was the lynchpin upon which the country revolved. Without her, there would have been no ‘I have a dream’. Without her, we may still have been living in the era of Jim Crow.
The country owes a great debt to Ms. Parks, a woman who, calmly and purposefully, asserted her rights as a human being once, in the time of our greatest need for someone to do so.
That’s why I spoke of the inspirational quality she had. I can’t think offhand of anyone involved in the civil rights movement who is alive today and who deserves the honor more. Her role in the civil rights movement far outshone the physical person she was. For one reason or another, she took on a personna and fulfilled a role far larger than she was. Some people have this gift within them, others have it foist upon them. But regardless of the way came to embody it, she became an important icon of the civil rights movement, and the effect that she had upon it was positive, powerful and long-term.
As betenoir said, people [and movements] need their symbols.
What qualifications would you suggest a person have in order to justify a state funeral?
To me, if the state itself feels that a person’s influence or impact was sufficient enough to warrant such an honor, that’s pretty much all that’s required.
I’d say it’s less about what she did than how the myth and legend grew about her. Given the way that developed she’d become much larger-than-life in the eyes of the country and the world and is therefore worthy of such honor.
As it is the whole ‘head of state’ argument seems false to me. James Buchanan was a head of state. So was Millard Fillmore. And who cares?
Should they get it (other than I think it being in the law) simply for the ability to get elected? That seems somehow less impressive than Rosa Parks.
But remember, it’s all about the legend and her place in the American mythos.
I’ll say this, pick any point in time and SOMEONE will be POTUS, guaranteed. There were no guarantees that anyone was going to stand up for civil rights and be as perfect a symbol as Rosa Parks.
She defines everything that is good and proper about the civil rights movement. Stand up for your rights as a person. BE a good person yourself. Lead by example.
Jackson and Sharpton lead with their mouths. Scandal follows them around like toilet paper stuck to their shoe. Where Rosa was instrumental in breaking the back of institutionalized racism, Sharpton and Jackson are the equivalent of ambulance chasing lawyers. They look for scandal and incidents to trump up in the press, sowing dissent and tension wherever they go.
