Rosa Parks takes the bus

[mackthefork]

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it's nice that some with similar opinions will defend him though, so he can say anything he likes and then pretend he meant something different.


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That sounds pretty illogical to me. In my observations of the world I've noticed that as one gets more support one tends to get bolder and more forthright in one's statements. Backpedaling and retracting happens when you are outnumbered and squeezed into a corner.

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He is bold and he isn't back-peddling, he's pretending to have meant something else, when his meaning was obvious. It's the same if I say you are a fool, then pretend I meant jester. Pawn and fool are both words with many meanings, given context though the true meaning becomes evident.

Mack

[Richard Tanner]

And picking one thing out of four statments (the most worthless argument as well) and only "debunking" it shows weakness.

Cody

[hetron]

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I also heard that there was a plan in place to challenge the Bus seating law and that Parks was among those asked to help. The timing would of course depend on when the opportunity presented itself.


At least two women were arrested before Parks was. At least one, Mary Louise Smith, was rejected as the test case because of rumors of her father's alcoholism. This suggests that the Parks arrest was not completely random and unexpected, and that there was in fact a "plan." (note, this was a cursory search - I'm sure one could find much more)

Hetron, this was easy to find information, you shouldn't go around staining another poster's reputation for not providing links for every claim they make, when you could do it yourself. You posted about 4 times complaining of no links to evidence, without lifting a finger yourself to find any.
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The political correctness of this board disgusts me. Calling someone a racist without legitimate basis is the politics of personal destruction. Shame on many of you, you did not live up to your basic humanity today.

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Here is B&P's quote:
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It was arranged ahead of time that she would refuse to leave her seat, and they knew no harm would come to her. She was just the lucky person picked to be the "symbol" of the bus boycott.

That puts her in the same category as Norma McCorvey (the Roe in Row v. Wade) who was used to advance the anti-abortion issue.


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I never called anyone a racist. I am perfectly capable of looking things up on the internet as well. Our man B& P stated he got his information from a biography on Rosa Parks, NOT the internet. All the info I have seen on the internet merely SPECULATES that Rosa Parks may have planned this action in advance. There is no PROOF that what she did was at behest of NAACP or other civil rights groups (none that I can find). Furthermore, B & P states that "they knew no harm would come to her". Huh? Where is there proof of this? That the civil rights movement GUARANTEED her that no harm would come to her as a result of her actions? Rosa Parks left Alabama precisely because she lost her job and because she was subjected to constant death threats. She SACRIFICED her livelihood as a seamstress in Montgomery for a greater cause. If that isn't "doing something", I am afraid I don't know what is.

[Darryl_P]

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he's pretending to have meant something else, when his meaning was obvious.

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OK, but why does he do it? You seem to be saying it's because he gets a kick out it, and that getting support would encourage it more, whereas I'm saying it's a form of defense (but not a very effective one, (edit)nor a very ethical one (end edit)) after he realized his original words ran into resistance.

[vulturesrow]

I think calling the man a racist is a bit extreme, especially because it doesnt necessarily follow that he is racist just because he believes she was a pawn of the civil rights movement, no matter how many other "outs" you give him. That said, the use of the word pawn definitely has some implications that are negative as well, no matter how B&P tries to spin. An interesting look at the power of simple words.

[mackthefork]

Some people don't like to offend, some don't like to be disliked, some people don't like people to think they hold unpopular ideas, and some people don't care what other people think of them. I figure he's one of the first 3 for obvious reasons, not sure if thats a bad thing or not.

Mack

[Arnfinn Madsen]

I think she was still brave, given the board:

[twowords]

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I think she was still brave, given the board:



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very nice

[BCPVP]

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(To elaborate a bit, I believe that there was much flippancy about the Barbershop dialogue. Myself, I enjoy any movie that can entertain, even if the story or the dialogue are as left-field as they come. But I would not cite what an actor said in a movie as "historical evidence"!)

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I'm not citing it as "historical evidence". My reason for posting it was to show that this opinion is not limited to Beer and Pizza or to whites.

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So how do we get from "might have been somewhat [prejudiced]" to "he's a racist"?

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By jumping to conclusions.

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FYP

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Once more, here is my claim, verbatim: [ QUOTE ]
When someone describes Rosa Parks as a "passive person" and a "pawn", then that person is (a) a lousy speaker of English, (b) out of his f*cking mind, or (c) a racist.

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Feel free to substitute (c) with "ignorant of History".

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I don't know what Beer's intention was when he said that. Maybe he was just trying to stir the shitpot. Which would not make him ignorant/racist, "out of his f*cking mind, or a lousy speaker of English.

But it would be nice if we could debate other people's ideas without resorting to namecalling and race card throwing, wouldn't it?

Can the case not be made that Rosa Parks has received a lot more fame than she deserved as there were many other blacks who did they same thing she did? Obviously she is well known because her case was the one that eventually overturned the segregation of buses. But that is not something she could really control. Is it possible that her role as a secretary for the NAACP was what helped grease the wheels for her road to fame?

Or am I now both a racist and ignorant for daring to ask such questions?

[ericd]

Rosa Parks was not a pawn. She trained for the assignment.

You should do a bit of research before you belittle the courageous work of others.