In the 19th century, the
Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery and The
Fourteenth Amendment declared that all the former slaves and people born in the
United States should have equal rights. However, the racial discrimination in
the South states of US continued to exist during the 20th century and there
were several public areas where people were segregated (“Civil Rights: Law and
History,” n. d.). In this context, Rosa Parks, an African-American activist,
demonstrated that she owned the basic characteristics of a true hero with one
simple and grand gesture. A true hero is not someone who possesses super powers
such as flying or having a superhuman strength, but someone who makes such a
difference in the world despite being simply human. Being a hero primarily
requires the courage to make changes and face consequences, a great character,
and faith in humanity. Thus, Rosa Parks is an example of how extraordinary and
heroic a human can be.
Heroes are separated from ordinary
people by their efforts to perceive a purpose or an ideal and to act upon it.
Since they are fighting for a cause, it is necessary that they have courage to
keep going under any consequences or circumstances. While many people fail
trying to achieve their purpose due to obstacles, lack of perseverance, or even
fear, a true hero possesses the courage to keep chasing a purpose until to achieve
it objectives no matter what is required of them. Rosa Parks lived in the city
of Montgomery, Alabama, during the 1950s, when the Montgomery City Code
demanded that black people should give their seats for the white passengers in
the bus if there were no more seats available in order to separate white and
black people in the public transportation. She became famous on the day that
she had the courage to refuse to give up her seat for a white person in the bus
and thereby violated the law resulting in her arresting and conviction (“Rosa
Parks Bus”, 2002). Other people had previously violated the segregation laws;
she was not the first one to show indignation against the racial
discrimination. However, she was the one who had the courage to put herself
into the cause as she remained engaged in the struggle to end racial
discrimination even with the given promise of harassment and violence against
her. In the article “Eve’s Daughters,” Miriam Polster (2001) states that mental
bravery and strength are characteristics that heroes must possess. Thus, heroes
are not afraid of their own lack of welfare or even dealing with their own
death. Heroes are steady while ordinary people bend and give up. This is why
the advocate and chapter president of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), Edgar Nixon, saw in her a courageous black woman who
could become a plaintiff and questioning with him the validity of segregation
laws. Thus, she tried to help him to question the validity of these laws even
knowing that the consequences of being a part of this will be severe. Who else
would have the courage to be placed to the test at the risk of harassment and
intimidation? Rosa Parks’ acts show how she believed in fairness and fought for
it. Instead of going home and resign, she silently and non-violently chose to
question the unfair operative laws of Alabama because she had the courage that
only heroes have to make changes and face the consequences.
Although Parks was born into an
environment of segregated schools and racial oppression, she chose to become a
person with a great character, who could help other people and make a great
difference. She was a member of NAACP before the incident in the bus;
therefore, she was already engaged in the fight for civil rights and became an
inspiration, an ignition point, for oppressed people. Thus, the Montgomery
citizens, allied with the NAACP started a boycott during the day of her
judgment. She possessed the predisposition to be actively committed in a
campaign in favor of civil rights. In other words, her character made her inclined
against any type of injustice. Moreover, she had an influence of her past; when
she was young, she saw how her grandfather expressed his indignation against Ku
Klux Klan remaining in the front of his house with a shotgun while they crossed
the street (“Rosa Parks Biography,” 2014). Maybe a person can born as a hero or
can become one, in either way she corresponded to the criteria.
In addition to courage and
character, Parks possessed a powerful belief in humankind that guided her
during the whole life. She could have stopped when she was arrested and
convicted. Or when she and her husband lost their jobs due to their involvement
with the Montgomery boycott. Or even when they could not find any other jobs
because of their political engagement and had to move out to another state.
However, Parks was a hero and instead of giving up, she founded the Rosa and
Raymond Parks Institute to Self-Development with the purpose of announcing the
importance of justice and civil rights. Not all this would have been possible
if she had not been driven by a deep faith in humanity and fairness. She did
not simply claim that “Each person must live their life as a model for others,”
she acted upon it (“Rosa Parks Biography,” 2014). As Tollefon (1993) suggests
in the article “Is a Hero Nothing but a Sandwich?,” heroes are those willing to
make changes. In this way, Parks was truly heroic as she made changes on behalf
of human rights and became a catalyst for the changes in the racial oppression
in the best way she could and in her position, a black woman living in the
middle of the 20th century.
History has presented several
examples of personalities that were necessary to catalyze the justice process
such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. These people are the real and
Rosa Parks also it is. She suffered racial discrimination and she could have
done nothing in favor of the civil rights, but she was not that kind of person.
She believed in humanity, equal rights, and her ability to cause an impact on
the civil rights movement in a period when it was not easy even being a woman.
She was a hero without superpowers; however, her actions caused a powerful
change in the world.
References
Civil
Rights: Law and History. (n. d.). FindLaw.com. Retrieved Oct 27, 2014, from
http://civilrights.findlaw.com/civil-rights-overview/civil-rights-law-and-
history.html
Polster, M. (2001). Eve’s Daughters. Gestalt
Journal Press.
Rosa Parks
Bus. (2002). The Henry Ford.org website. Retrieved Oct 7, 2014, from
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks. (2014). The Biography.com website.
Retrieved 01:04, Oct 26, 2014, from
Rosa Parks. (2009). History.com. Retrieved Nov 8, 2014, from
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