# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/81 "2005-11-01T00:19:45Z")
> [@Bob Loblaw](#): > > I don’t want people thinking that Bill O’Rielly has a special gift for forming opinions, or me either. Oh, I don’t think there’s any real danger of that happening. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Loblaw\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@Bob\_Loblaw\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Loblaw_1)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/82 "2005-11-01T00:28:37Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Oh, I don’t think there’s any real danger of that happening. But if I were to go to bed at night with the notion that something I said had provoked someone into seeing a problem differently, or made them challenge their own preconceptions just a little, well, then I’d be smug as a chimp in a white house. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/83 "2005-11-01T00:38:43Z")
Replies to post eighty two directed to the pit. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/84 "2005-11-01T00:50:00Z")
It was planned. Cite: _My Soul is Rested_. Howell Raines. The book is a collection of oral histories from participants in the Civil Rights movement. And IMHO, the fact that it was planned makes the act all the more remarkable in its bravery. Regarding Miss Parks’ importance to the Civil Rights Movement, I think the Neville Brothers said it best. Some lines: _December first, 1955, our freedom movement came alive._ and _You were the spark, that started our freedom movement._ Other people started piling up the logs for the fire, and still others fed the flames, but Rosa Parks was the spark that got it going. She’s a hero. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/85 "2005-11-01T00:52:42Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Jesse Jackson and _maybe_ Al Sharpton (I’m no expert). Even if you’re not an expert, I think you can do better than that. I don’t think you can say for sure what would’ve happened without Rosa Parks. I do think she was part of something inevitable. Still, she was an inspiration, and let’s not forget that the bus boycott brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to national prominence. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/86 "2005-11-01T01:55:53Z")
> [@Bob Loblaw](#): > > But if I were to go to bed at night with the notion that something I said had provoked someone into seeing a problem differently, or made them challenge their own preconceptions just a little, well, then I’d be smug as a chimp in a white house. Was this post prompted by my calling you Cheetah? The thing is, **Bob** , I’ve helped change people’s opinions on these boards. It’s rare that it happens, but it does happen. When it happens, it’s because I listen closely to what people say, rephrase their arguments to make sure I understand them, and then respond to them with closely-reasoned and well-supported arguments. It does NOT happen because I say outrageous things. One of my professors, a political radical who believes that elementary school social studies should be all about “social justice,” has made me formulate a new rule: **Never advance a mediocre argument in support of a good position**. He does this all the time. A class of ill-informed, vaguely conservative elementary education majors get confronted with an article by a Native American rights activist, who launches a patently stupid screed against the White Invasion and how the only good things that Indians like from White culture are horses and beads. Does it change any minds? Does it make these vaguely conservative students say, “Wow, I never thought of it like that”? Hell, no. It makes them say, “Wow, these Native American Rights morons are fucking assholes,” and tune out future arguments, even when those future arguments might be well-reasoned and eloquent. It solidifies their ignorance instead of cracking it. I agree with him politically on most issues, but his mediocre arguments in support of good positions are undermining those good positions. And it drives me crazy. I don’t think you’re doing leftist politics any favors, either. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/87 "2005-11-01T02:33:11Z")
So many others have posted why Rosa Parks should be honored by laying in public state in the Capitol. I agree, and have to say I was amazed that it has happened. Beyond all the smoke and mirrors of easy political symbolism, this makes me proud for this country. We really have come a long way, when a gentle woman who volunteered to be the focus of a concerted movement against human rights can be given the highest respect. It’s never happened before. This morning, listening to the BBC report on site at the Capitol, people in line were interviewed about why they came, and they spoke passionately about what Rosa had meant to them. People came as families, from elders who remembered it all vividly, and their children, with their kids in tow. One woman said she had come for her father, who was the first Black policeman to ride in a squad car in DC. He was in his eighties, and not able to come himself, so she felt she had to come in his honor to honor Rosa. Paraphrasing, here: If she could walk to work for all those days of the bus boycott, I can at least make the walk here to honor her. People standing in line, remembering why this woman was so important, teaching their kids why this woman is so important. Those kids will remember that lesson so much better with this ceremony,paying respect, rather than learned from a book. In the midst of so much crap lately, I’m glad the powers that be did the right thing by Rosa Parks. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/88 "2005-11-01T02:40:25Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > So many others have posted why Rosa Parks should be honored by laying in public state in the Capitol. I agree, and have to say I was amazed that it has happened. > > Beyond all the smoke and mirrors of easy political symbolism, this makes me proud for this country. We really have come a long way, when a gentle woman who volunteered to be the focus of a concerted movement against human rights can be given the highest respect. It’s never happened before. > > This morning, listening to the BBC report on site at the Capitol, people in line were interviewed about why they came, and they spoke passionately about what Rosa had meant to them. People came as families, from elders who remembered it all vividly, and their children, with their kids in tow. One woman said she had come for her father, who was the first Black policeman to ride in a squad car in DC. He was in his eighties, and not able to come himself, so she felt she had to come in his honor to honor Rosa. Paraphrasing, here: If she could walk to work for all those days of the bus boycott, I can at least make the walk here to honor her. > > People standing in line, remembering why this woman was so important, teaching their kids why this woman is so important. Those kids will remember that lesson so much better with this ceremony,paying respect, rather than learned from a book. > > In the midst of so much crap lately, I’m glad the powers that be did the right thing by Rosa Parks. You said that so well. I just want to say; Thank you. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/89 "2005-11-01T02:53:09Z")
I am an older white woman. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, I was entering adolescence. The idea of _any_ woman being so defiant took me by surprise. And for her to be “colored” and even think of questioning authority was unbelievable. Those of you who question why she is lying _in honor_ in the Rotunda do not understand what things were like BEFORE ROSA. She empowered people everywhere. Her courage has comforted me personally a thousand times over my lifetime. Presidents still lie _in state_ and Rosa lies _in honor_. She earned the distinction the hard way – the noble way. She is far above merely lying _in state._ ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/90 "2005-11-01T02:53:22Z")
As far as historical role models go, Rosa Parks is right up there with the best of them. I think that this honor is more than appropriate. Good for her. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/91 "2005-11-01T03:02:07Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > What an absolute load of cock. Incidentally, “absolute load of cock” gives me about 807,000 hits. And, since this started with the lone opposition I’ve heard anywhere to Rosa Parks lying in honor, I’ll offer my 2 cents on that as well. The moment when she refused to get up on that bus will be remembered by history as “The Moment” that everything started happening in the Civil Rights Movement. The moment that changed everything. The moment where, unwilling to understand the vast complex history of how monumental change takes place, people will assign as “The Moment.” Just as World War I will always be considered to begin with Gavrillo Princep shooting the Archduke Ferdinand, the Renaissance with Gutenberg’s printing press, etc., the pivotal moment of the Civil Rights movement started with Rosa Parks sitting on a bus. It’s been about fifty years, and it doesn’t seem likely to change soon. Even if for none of the other reasons that others have brought up above, I think that alone would justify it. But I suppose the real reason is that whatever her contribution to our world was, we all seem very thankful for it. In Congress saying on our behalf, “we, as a nation, thank you for what you did,” they are, as far as I can tell, actually telling the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/92 "2005-11-01T03:33:57Z")
Let’s see, Rosa had to flee Alabama because of death threats. She kept guns for self defense, and when she was retired and had drifted out of public consciousness, she was robbed by some punk kid in Detroit. She went from being an “unclean” member of society to an international hero, and when she dies, _how can we **not** have her lie in repose in the Rotunda?_ That’d be like India failing to honor Ghandi. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/93 "2005-11-01T16:38:10Z")
Incidentally, whatever happened to that kid? And was he a black kid? That would be some bitter historical irony, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/94 "2005-11-01T17:06:29Z")
And NO, I’m NOT suggesting he was a black kid out of any stupid racist motivations, just my own curiosity ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/95 "2005-11-01T17:25:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Other people started piling up the logs for the fire, and still others fed the flames, but Rosa Parks was the spark that got it going. And those who start the fire usually end up consumed in the flames, which makes Parks even more remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/96 "2005-11-01T23:06:29Z")
I’m quite pleased to see that supporting Rosa Parks is something folks here of all political stripes agree on. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/97 "2005-11-01T23:21:19Z")
> [@Love Rhombus](#): > > Incidentally, whatever happened to that kid? And was he a black kid? That would be some bitter historical irony, wouldn’t it? IIRC, he was black and he did serve time. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/98 "2005-11-02T00:06:42Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > IIRC, he was black and he did serve time. That and for the rest of his life he’ll be known as “That stupid little punk who robbed Rosa fucking Parks.” ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/99 "2005-11-02T00:51:25Z")
I’ve spent that 40 or so minutes searching for a credible cite of the punk’s race. Nothing mentions black or white, but I thought it was common knowledge he was black. (His name by the way is Joseph Skipper) The best I can do now is [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks#endnote_beating) > [@](#): > > On August 30, 1994, at age eighty one, Rosa Parks was attacked in her Detroit home by Joseph Skipper, who is also African American. The incident created outrage throughout America. Skipper said he didn’t know he was in Parks’ home but recognized her after entering. Skipper asked, “Hey, aren’t you Rosa Parks?” to which she replied, “Yes.” She handed him $3 when he demanded money and an additional $50 when he demanded more. Before fleeing, Skipper struck Parks in the face.[11] Skipper was arrested and charged with various breaking and entering offenses against Parks and other neighborhood victims. He admitted guilt and on August 8, 1995 was sentenced to eight to fifteen years in prison.[12] I’ll see if I can find anything on Skipper for further clarification, but a quasi-encyclopedia is the best for now. All news outlets state > [@](#): > > In 1994, Mrs. Parks’ home was invaded by a 28-year-old man who beat her and took $53. She was treated at a hospital and released. The man, Joseph Skipper, pleaded guilty, blaming the crime on his drug problem. leaving other info out. Why there’s even a hint of it being inappropriate she lay in state is beyond me. She was flawed in some unimportant ways and wasn’t a complete saint, but I’d say equating her to Ghandi is perfectly valid. Godspeed, Ms. Parks. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684/100 "2005-11-02T00:58:36Z")
> [@Bob Loblaw](#): > > Yeah, I suppose that’s over the top. Only is a bit hyperbolic, perhaps I should have said the two top. The moon landing would make the top two? - Polio vaccine - Pretty much any other vaccines - Artificial heart - Organ transplant - Dialysis (sp?) - Chemotherapy (hell, let’s include biopsies and radiation treatments) - MRI’s, CAT/PET scans - LSD. (This should be a solid Top-5 choice forever) 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-rosa-parks-not-the-jessica-lynch-of-the-civil-rights-movement/328684.md?page=6)