# How is Rosa Parks not the Jessica Lynch of the civil rights movement? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 31, 2005, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684 "2005-10-31T06:25:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/21 "2005-10-31T13:51:17Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > 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. > > Is that enough for you? (My bolding). Come on! I completely agree that this woman should be honoured in the way she has been. She was a good, brave soul and thoroughly deserving of the accolades. But still living in the age of Jim Crow without her? That’s an absurd statement. Somebody else could, and would, easily have filled that symbolic role. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/22 "2005-10-31T14:27:32Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > I’ll rephrase my OP. Were the actions of Rosa Parks worthy of her being treated as she was in her viewing? Yes, she is worthy. She is worthy for her one act alone. If you do not accept what she did was heroic enough than think of it this way. She represents a pivotal moment of change in the history of this country. A change that was uplifting and good. Her one small act and the defense of her act was the catalyst of change. While this phrase is over used, in her case it is legitimately applied. So think of Ms. Parks lying in state as not so much celebrating her heroic action, but as celebrating the fact that her act did speed up the changing of the US to a better and more tolerant place. Jim ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/23 "2005-10-31T14:48:01Z")
What **jfranchi** said. But also, Rosa Parks is an American icon–and should be treated as such. To compare her to Jessicia Lynch is out of line–I don’t even see the way the two equate. JL had her fame thrust upon her–and IMS, the story that got her the fame wasn’t even the real story. RP is much different. She helped lead an entire movement that still reverberates today. I have a question–how many women (never mind black women) have actuall lain in state? I can’t think of ONE. (maybe Eleanor Roosevelt, but I doubt it). Maybe RP is still breaking down barriers, even in death. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/24 "2005-10-31T14:48:35Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Jesse Jackson and _maybe_ Al Sharpton (I’m no expert). This has **got** to be a whoosh. Those two publicity hounds? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/25 "2005-10-31T15:01:57Z")
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are dead? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/26 "2005-10-31T15:06:59Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > She was a good person, that much is agreed upon. The neccesity of a state funereal has yet to be justified. It’s all about getting some civil rights cred for Alito: > [@](#): > > Wasting no time, the White House arranged for Alito to go to the Capitol after the announcement.The schedule called for Senate Majority Leader Bill First to greet him and accompany the nominee to the Capitol Rotunda to go to the coffin of the late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. [Paying Respects _and_ Counting Coupe](http://www.beliefnet.com/story/178/story_17805_1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/27 "2005-10-31T15:08:36Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > 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. Rosa Parks inspired me far more than any president in my lifetime. That’s what lying in state is for, to honor extraordinary individuals who were instrumental in shaping the country we live in today. It doesn’t matter if, as you say, someone else _could_ have sat on that bus. Rosa Parks _did_, and the shock waves from that act reverberate throughout American life to this day. 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” Well done Ms Parks, well done. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/28 "2005-10-31T15:16:11Z")
The Civil Rights movement in our country was perhaps the single biggest activist-led change to our country’s culture, larger even than Women’s Suffrage. Rosa Parks made a deliberate, calculated, and strategic move to place herself in harm’s way in order to advance the cause of justice, and her doing so brought about a shift in our culture that cannot be overestimated. She deserves it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/29 "2005-10-31T15:20:20Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > She was a good person, that much is agreed upon. The neccesity of a state funereal has yet to be justified. She’s not being given a state funeral. I think only Presidents get that. She’s lying in honor. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/30 "2005-10-31T15:23:25Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > It’s all about getting some civil rights cred for Alito:[Paying Respects _and_ Counting Coupe](http://www.beliefnet.com/story/178/story_17805_1.html) When I found out Rosa Parks passed away, I hoped but doubted that the government would respond with a fitting tribute to what she meant to the USA. When I found out she would lay in state where few had I was moved. It was a great mark of respect from the President. I don’t even care if there were underlying political motivations to do so. It is a wonderful tribute. I will applaud Bush for this one. Disclaimer: I do not like President Bush, if fact I think he is the worst President of my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/31 "2005-10-31T15:26:13Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > …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. > > I think she was super. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/32 "2005-10-31T15:26:42Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Jesse Jackson and _maybe_ Al Sharpton (I’m no expert). They devote their lives to the fair treatment and representaion of all African Americans. WTF? Please tell me that was written tongue-in-cheek. It’s hard to think of anyone who has done more damage to black folks than Jackson and Sharpton. They are the poster children for the term “poverty pimp”. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/33 "2005-10-31T15:31:02Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Please tell me that was written tongue-in-cheek. It’s hard to think of anyone who has done more damage to black folks than Jackson and Sharpton. They are the poster children for the term “poverty pimp”. It’s perfectly easy to tink of people who have done more damage to black folks, assuming that you recognize that black folks aren’t a monolithic unit. For example, I can think of a president that has gotten hundreds of black folks killed in a war overseas; I don’t think Revs Jackson and Sharpton have come close to doing that sort of damage. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/34 "2005-10-31T15:33:20Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > WTF? > > Please tell me that was written tongue-in-cheek. It’s hard to think of anyone who has done more damage to black folks than Jackson and Sharpton. They are the poster children for the term “poverty pimp”. I don’t agree, but I understand the dislike for Jackson & Sharpton. How does our resident rightist feel about Rosa? I am just interested. I am surprised **dnooman** seems to have a problem with this and wonder if he just doesn’t know the history. I am going to point to this thread in MPSIMS for more about Rosa. > **[Rosa Parks died today at age 92](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341351)** > > Rosa Parks died today at age 92. My condolences to her family. This would be a good day to reflect how much one woman of courage helped to change the USA. She helped to make the world a better place by just “sitting” for her rights. For any who... ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/35 "2005-10-31T15:43:50Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > It’s perfectly easy to tink of people who have done more damage to black folks, assuming that you recognize that black folks aren’t a monolithic unit. For example, I can think of a president that has gotten hundreds of black folks killed in a war overseas; I don’t think Revs Jackson and Sharpton have come close to doing that sort of damage. > > Daniel I just wish to point out that Kennedy and Johnson got far more Black men killed in Vietnam than Bush. So this is not a fair comparison. In Jesse’s favor, he has been the loudest voice of conscious in the Democratic Party to keep African-American views and issues from being buried. Al has mellowed a lot from the Rabble Rouser beginnings and is now trying to act as Jesse did. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/36 "2005-10-31T15:47:20Z")
> [@Terminus Est](#): > > Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are dead? We should be so lucky. Rosa Parks deserves every honor we can bestow, because she represents the untolds thousands who labored to bring this country into the light, and did so in darkness. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/37 "2005-10-31T15:47:44Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’d just like to add that it’s not like she is keeping anyone out of the rotunda. Seriously. What, did some white guy want to lie in state at the same time or something? **so much d&r** On a more serious note, however, this was the most appropriate (and most touching) tribute they could come up with: > [@Wikipedia article on Rosa Parks](#): > > City officials in Montgomery and Detroit announced on October 27 that the first seats of their city buses would be reserved with black ribbons in honor of Parks until her funeral. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/38 "2005-10-31T15:48:04Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > I just wish to point out that Kennedy and Johnson got far more Black men killed in Vietnam than Bush. So this is not a fair comparison. No, I accept this absolutely: you’re right that, per **Clothahump’s** phrasing, Kennedy is worse than Bush. The problem is that the idea of comparing who’s harmed black folks more is idiotic, and I was mocking the very concept. If you want to talk about who has most advanced the causes of equality between black Americans and other Americans, then that’s a legitimate conversation; but **Clothahump’s** phrasing is just plain dumb. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/39 "2005-10-31T15:52:12Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > So, why is RP worthy of a rotunda viewing, lack of opposition? Well, the cynical answer would be yes…would you want to be on the Congressional Record voting against it come election time?? Even if the incident didn’t quite have the political impact that history has given it (and I don’t believe this because the chain reaction probably can be traced back to that bus), then it’s still an important symbolic moment as the first step of defiance to the status quo, which is just as powerful. A lot more powerful and inspiring gesture than Jesse or Al could ever dream of, and I have no problems with the lying in respite whatsoever. RIP, Rosa. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/40 "2005-10-31T16:09:55Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > No, I accept this absolutely: you’re right that, per **Clothahump’s** phrasing, Kennedy is worse than Bush. The problem is that the idea of comparing who’s harmed black folks more is idiotic, and I was mocking the very concept. > > If you want to talk about who has most advanced the causes of equality between black Americans and other Americans, then that’s a legitimate conversation; but **Clothahump’s** phrasing is just plain dumb. > > Daniel Forgive me, I mistook it for Bush bashing, which I will normally get in line for to help on, I just wanted to be fair about it. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684.md?page=3)