Get Off the Bus: Civil Rights Covering or Cover Up

Rosa Parks

There are a few exhibits that highlight Rosa Parks, who is best known for her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery Public Transit to a white passenger. In the “I Dream a World: Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women: Part I” exhibit, Rosa Parks is featured with twenty-four other notable women who have contributed to United States history.[1] The other women include writers, actors, athletes, and journalist. Rosa Parks has gone down in United States history as a Civil Rights activist because she was arrested after saying that she would not move to the back of the bus. The legend that has been publicized is that her arrest was the reason behind the Montgomery Bus Company Boycott in 1955.

1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott Stamp

This infamous boycott has been portrayed in several movies over the years, including The Long Walk Home starring Whoopi Goldberg.[2] The stamp that commemorates the event is apart of another Smithsonian exhibit, “The Fight for Civil Rights-The Black Experience on Stamps”.[3] Even though, the stamp which is of an artwork titled “Walking” by Charles Alston, does not feature a photo of Rosa Parks, the explanation for the event credits the arrest of Rosa Parks for sparking the boycott of the Montgomery bus company.

Claudette Colvin

The controversial thing about the arrest of Rosa Parks is that she was not the first person to experience being arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white rider. Earlier that year, a fifteen-year-old female named Claudette Colvin was arrested for that very thing. It was March 2, 1955, when the teenager, who caught the public bus after being released from school early, was arrested by two white policemen because of her refusal. “It felt as if Harriet Tubman’s hand was pushing me down on the one shoulder, and Sojourner Truth’s hand was pushing me down on the other. Learning about those two women gave me the courage to remain seated that day.”[4] Claudette was handcuffed, jailed, and charged with violating segregation laws, amongst other things, for something she voiced was her “constitutional right” to refuse. The situation has been said to be almost identical to the arrest of Rosa Parks. Her unplanned refusal to give up her seat has been said to have planted the seed for the events that followed her arrest later that year. Most importantly, the legal grounds for challenging transportation segregation laws in federal court.

Rosa Parks arrested

Some have thought that the arrest of Rosa Parks was more favorable to be publicized because females like Claudette were ostracized by prominent figures of the Civil Rights Movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Her age, gender, skin complexion and the pregnancy that followed her arrest have been attributed to the fact that she receives lesser recognition for her arrest. “They [local civil-rights leaders] wanted someone, I believe, who would be impressive to white people.”[5] Rosa Parks was an older, more established woman with a lighter skin complexion. This did not stop the two of them from getting to know each other on a more intimate level. “‘Claudette … I knew your mother, Mary Jane. And when I first got the news you were arrested, it hurt me so bad. They put you in a jail instead of a juvenile centre.’”[6]

Rosa Parks arrest

As an interpreter of this information, the tension behind the coverage of the two arrests should not automatically symbolize a controversial issue within the black community. The lesser coverage of Claudette Colvin compared to Rosa Parks should not be seen in a negative light. Even though she may have felt ostracized by Dr. King, that may not have been his intentions. Another way this could be seen is as a form of protection or shielding her from further scrutiny and public shaming. She was young, a female of color in a country where the community as a whole felt the oppression and discrimination of Jim Crow. On top of that, she was expecting her first child. Her pregnancy occurred after her arrest however those familiar with childbirth know that excessive stress can cause complications for a pregnant woman and could have potential put her in jeopardy of a high-risk pregnancy.

Rosa Parks fingerprints

The exhibit highlights Rosa Parks as one example of the events of the Civil Rights Movement. It is not the intention of the exhibit to showcase the individual problems of the members involved.

Works Cited

“I Dream a World: Selections From Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women” , Smithsonian, https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/i-dream-world-brian-lanker?utm_source=si.edu&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=MyVisitSILinks to an external site. Accessed February 2, 2023

“I Dream a World: Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women: Part I”, Smithsonian American Women's History https://womenshistory.si.edu/exhibitions/i-dream-world-selections-brian-lankers-portraits-remarkable-black-women-part-i:event-exhib-6608Links to an external site. Accessed February 2, 2023

Laughland, Olivia, “Claudette Colvin: The woman who refused to give up her sear-nine months before Rosa Parks” The Guardian (2021) https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parksLinks to an external site. Accessed February 2, 2023

Pearce, Director Richard, The Long Walk Home, (1990)

“The Fight for Civil Rights - The Black Experience on Stamps” Smithsonian National Postal Museum, https://artsandculture.google.com/story/lQUBMWQ8dTbYKQLinks to an external site. Accessed February 2, 2023

[1] “I Dream a World: Selections From Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women” , Smithsonian, https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/i-dream-world-brian-lanker?utm_source=si.edu&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=MyVisitSILinks to an external site. Accessed February 2, 2023

[2] Director Richard Pearce, The Long Walk Home, (1990)

[3] “The Fight for Civil Rights - The Black Experience on Stamps” Smithsonian National Postal Museum, https://artsandculture.google.com/story/lQUBMWQ8dTbYKQLinks to an external site. Accessed February 2, 2023

[4] A quote from Claudette Colvin from Olivia Laughland, “Claudette Colvin: The woman who refused to give up her sear-nine months before Rosa Parks” The Guardian (2021) https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parksLinks to an external site. Accessed February 2, 2023

[5] A quote from Claudette Colvin, ibid

[6] The words of Rosa Parks, ibid

*This is a repost of a discussion thread that was originally posted for HIST820 Teaching History on February 2, 2023