# Who was the white guy....... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931 "2005-10-26T01:35:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/21 "2005-10-26T22:47:28Z")
> [@](#): > > It comes from the Penguin Lives biography of Rosa Parks , which I read a few years ago. Looks like I’ll be doing a little business with Amazon. Thanks. > [@](#): > > Could the white man have been a plant as well and essentially ‘disappeared’ after the process was started? Doesn’t seem likely, but I like the way you think. Would anyone have any ideas on how to get the records of her trial? ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/22 "2005-10-26T23:48:21Z")
SandyHook Charter Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 931 Location: Shadow of the Sierras ## Who was the white guy… …that wanted Rosa Parks seat? Michael Jackson? Sorry. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/23 "2005-10-27T03:21:23Z")
Some accounts I’ve read tell that Mrs. Parks and three others were asked to vacate their seats for some white persons. It’s possible that a small group of whites got on at one stop, so therefore there was not just one particular person who set off all that ruckus. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/24 "2005-10-27T04:09:40Z")
> [@Julius Henry](#): > > Some accounts I’ve read tell that Mrs. Parks and three others were asked to vacate their seats for some white persons. It’s possible that a small group of whites got on at one stop, so therefore there was not just one particular person who set off all that ruckus. That’s pretty much how I heard it. White passengers entered the bus, and the bus driver went back to make seats available for them. I don’t think the passengers had much to do with the disturbance. It was between Parks & Co. and the bus driver. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/25 "2005-10-27T14:03:50Z")
I thought it was one white man who needed a seat but the entire row of black passengers were told to move, presumably so he wouldn’t have to actually sit right next to a black person. A similar incident to this is described in John Howard Griffin’s _Black Like Me_, where black passengers were told to vacate the whole row despite there being one empty seat so that a lone white passenger could sit in that seat. No cite; just going by memory. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/26 "2005-10-27T15:58:08Z")
I heard on a TV news channel (can’t recall which one) that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white female college student. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/27 "2005-10-27T16:39:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Some accounts I’ve read tell that Mrs. Parks and three others were asked to vacate their seats for some white persons. It’s possible that a small group of whites got on at one stop, so therefore there was not just one particular person who set off all that ruckus. > [@](#): > > White passengers entered the bus, and the bus driver went back to make seats available for them. I don’t think the passengers had much to do with the disturbance. It was between Parks & Co. and the bus driver. This sounds reasonable to me. From reading **Malodorous’** post the complaint was by the bus driver, James Blake, who called the law on behalf of the bus company. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/28 "2005-10-27T17:41:47Z")
Slight hijack - It was ultimately a Supreme Court case that put an end to segregation in public transportation, but what of the Montgomery bus system prior to the case? By what I’ve read, the boycott crippled the system financially. Did they go kicking and screaming until the bitter end, or had they lost enough money that they were reconsidering their policies by the time the SCOTUS handed down the decision? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/29 "2005-10-29T02:38:54Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Slight hijack - It was ultimately a Supreme Court case that put an end to segregation in public transportation, but what of the Montgomery bus system prior to the case? By what I’ve read, the boycott crippled the system financially. Did they go kicking and screaming until the bitter end, or had they lost enough money that they were reconsidering their policies by the time the SCOTUS handed down the decision? The boycott lasted 381 days. Blacks brought suit in a Federal Court and won the case. The decision was appealed and the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision, then the boycott was ended. The result was complete integration of Montgomery’s bus system. A synopsis of the Montgomery bus boycott can be found at the following site: [[Link]](http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/30 "2005-10-29T03:44:16Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Slight hijack - It was ultimately a Supreme Court case that put an end to segregation in public transportation, but what of the Montgomery bus system prior to the case? By what I’ve read, the boycott crippled the system financially. Did they go kicking and screaming until the bitter end, or had they lost enough money that they were reconsidering their policies by the time the SCOTUS handed down the decision? They were reconsidering–in fact, they already _had_ reconsidered and changed their mind. In April 1956, National City Lines, which operated the Montgomery bus system and other Southern city bus lines, announced its intention of desegregating its buses. However, Jim Crow was a matter of civic and state _law_, and the city of Montgomery obtained a state court order forbidding NCL to desegregate its own buses. It wasn’t until December, when federal courts struck down the state laws on which the state court order was based, that desegregation finally took place and the boycott ended. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/31 "2005-10-29T07:59:50Z")
I’m guessing 80% of the accounts of Rosa Parks’ bus protest don’t mention that she headed the local chapter of the NAACP. I guess the story works better if she’s just everywoman Rosa. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/32 "2005-10-29T19:19:58Z")
I’m surprised there is so much confusion about this. I understand if the “man’s” name is forgotten, but why is there so much confusion about if it was a man, woman, or group of people? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/33 "2005-10-30T05:50:05Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’m surprised there is so much confusion about this. I understand if the “man’s” name is forgotten, but why is there so much confusion about if it was a man, woman, or group of people? Well, I wasn’t there, but if you want an educated guess: The white passenger(s) boarding the bus would have had no active part in this. It wasn’t like someone pointed at Ms. Parks and said: “I want that seat!” It would have been the bus driver’s responsibility to acquire seat(s) for the white passenger(s) when they entered the bus. The driver probably went to the back of the bus and requested that the seat(s) be vacated. When Ms. Parks refused to move, the issue was between the driver, the police and Ms. Parks. Any passengers that boarded the bus at that time would have been bystanders in the affair at best. It’s very likely that he, she, or they were never identified, even at the time of the incident. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/34 "2005-10-30T14:23:49Z")
> [@Malodorous](#): > > The bus driver was apparently [a James Blake](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blake_%28bus_driver%29) who sounds like something of a prick (as one would expect). No idea about the passanger. It doesn’t have anything to do with Ms Parks, but I’d like to report a coincidence I realized after klicking that link, namely that Mr Blake died the day the Titanic sank. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/35 "2005-10-30T14:24:53Z")
Of course he was _born_ the day the Titanic sank (OK, she sank in the very early morning hours of April 15, but the collision took place on 14.) ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/36 "2005-10-30T15:44:21Z")
The notion that Parks was just tired from work and didn’t actively attempt to change the status quo was a bit of nonsense I didn’t hear until the 1980s, around the same time the Reagan administration was not too keen on making MLK day a federally-recognized holiday. I only ever heard it in the context of people trying to downplay the event. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/37 "2005-10-30T16:04:16Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > The notion that Parks was just tired from work and didn’t actively attempt to change the status quo was a bit of nonsense I didn’t hear until the 1980’s, around the same time the Reagan administration was not too keen on making MLK day a federally-recognized holiday. Nobody _ever_ said that Rosa Parks didn’t “actively attempt to change the status quo”. Being tired from work and attempting to change the status quo are not mutually exclusive. As for “being tired from work”, I heard it when I first learned about the Montgomery bus boycott as a grade school student (early 1970’s), and again as a high school student (mid-1970’s). I distinctly recall my high school history textbook mentioning that her “corns and bunions ached”. It was part of the standard narrative of the event. There was _no connection_ with the Reagan administration or the King holiday. > [@](#): > > I only ever heard it in the context of people trying to downplay the event. Neither of the accounts I mentioned above made any effort to downplay the event. At worst they downplayed Rosa Parks’ _earlier life_, which is probably why she chose to de-emphasize “being tired from work” and emphasize her personal history of civil rights resistance when telling the story in her autobiography in 1992. Since that time most accounts of her arrest have followed her lead and told it as more than just an isolated act of defiance by a tired, humble seamstress. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/38 "2005-10-31T01:46:50Z")
The true pre-spin story (sorry, lost the cite) is that she refused to give up her seat to a crippled, pregnant Native American. She was a little tired, but had noble intentions. :o I’m sorry. I’m actually a big Rosa Parks fan. Just wanted to lighten things up. I meant no offence. I’ll do penance ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931/39 "2005-10-31T03:46:36Z")
> [@Tibbycat](#): > > I’ll do penance You are hereby sentenced to ride crowded city buses at least six times a week for the next ten years. So let it be written, so let it be done. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-white-guy/327931.md?page=1)