Rosa Parks is a legend in the civil rights world, and has become a symbol of the black struggle for equality and justice throughout the United States. In honoring Rosa Parks in The Capitol Rotunda, we as a nation have taken one more step towards an ideal we must never tire of pursuing.
The resolution, which permitted Ms. Parks’ remains to lie “in honor” in the Rotunda, was passed unanimously in Congress last Thursday. This is an honor not to be taken lightly. Congress has only authorized this rite 29 times since 1852. Generally, the Rotunda is reserved for ex-presidents and political leaders.
Park’s 1955 refusal to give up her seat on a public bus in Montgomery, Ala. to a white man was a seminal moment in America’s civil rights struggle. In the winter that followed, the young Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. rocketed into the national spotlight and an unstoppable social movement took form.
Years later, she explained her defiant act by saying that she was fed up with the daily humiliation the bus brought, and with following outdated laws meant only to alienate her race.
“Allowing Mrs. Parks to lie in honor here is a testament to the impact of her life on both our nation’s history and future,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist commented in a press release.
Parks is only the second non-government figure to lie in the Rotunda???the first was Pierre L’Enfant, the architect who designed Washington D.C. She is the second African American and the first woman.
Civil rights expert and Georgetown History Professor Maurice Jackson never thought he would see anything like his take place in his lifetime. “It is an honor for the whole nation,” Jackson said.
But Jackson also noted the need for progress. “This isn’t absolute success,” Jackson said, “it is a symbol of what the nation should be, not of what it is.”
This is more evident in the District than anywhere else in the country. According to a D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute study released Monday, the gap between high-income and low-income households is at least as wide as in any other major city in the country. The study also saw the average neighborhood income decreasing in the city’s poorest areas, which are overwhelmingly black.
Minority leader Nancy Pelosi said in a press release, “we recommit ourselves to her lifelong struggle to create an America that reflects the hopes and aspirations of all of its citizens.”
Thursday’s resolution is an example of the huge strides America has taken towards equality, but it also reminds us of how far we have yet to go.
