[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 140 (Friday, October 28, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO ROSA PARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. AL GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 26, 2005

  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, civil disobedience is the 
foundation of our democracy. Rosa Parks showed us that it was our duty, 
not just our right, to demand equal treatment and equal opportunity.
  When this Montgomery resident decided to remain seated and actively 
resist, she catapulted the civil rights movement into a new kind of 
decisive action.
  Ms. Parks, working as a seamstress, initially became involved with 
the civil rights movement through her work as a secretary for the 
Montgomery branch of the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored Persons (NAACP). Her involvement heightened when she declined 
to give up her seat on a bus for a white man. In Ms. Parks' 
autobiography, My Story, she says that she was ``tired of giving in'' 
that day she decided not to give up her seat.
  I am thankful that Ms. Parks was tired. She was tired of being 
treated as a second class citizen; tired of seeing her friends, family 
and fellow brothers and sisters being put upon by dogs and hoses; and 
most importantly, tired of being silenced in her own country.
  It was due to her desire for social justice and her longing for 
equality that she chose to make a statement by refusing to rise. Her 
actions, along with those of many, awakened this Nation. It is because 
of their unwavering commitment to fighting against injustice and to 
realize the dream and vision of this nation's forefathers--that this 
country was forced to look at itself in the mirror and change what it 
saw.
  Mr. Speaker, I am particularly aware of the contribution Ms. Parks' 
made by this act of civil disobedience. Rosa Park's actions were the 
spark. The spark that allowed the civil rights movement to progress and 
move forward under the leadership of a relatively unknown minister of 
the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  Up until that point, litigation was the primary method the civil 
rights movement employed, but Rosa Parks marked the beginning of a new 
strategy, one of civil disobedience. Bus boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom 
rides were just some of the tactics. While the Montgomery Bus Boycott 
was not the first boycott, it was the first to last as long as it did, 
over one year, resulting in a monumental court ruling and setting the 
civil rights movement on a new course.
  Ms. Parks' landmark Supreme Court case resulted in the ruling that 
segregated bus service was unconstitutional, unconstitutional not just 
because segregation on transportation affected interstate commerce, but 
segregation was unconstitutional in itself.
  After the boycott, non-violence became the central tenet of the 
movement as civil rights leaders organized at the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference with the goal of providing local leaders with the 
necessary tools to mount successful campaigns for justice.
  It is because of the many sacrifices of people like Ms. Parks, the 
personal risks they took, that I, as an African American, can stand 
before my fellow Americans as a United States Congressman. While we 
have made great strides in the past 50 years, yet there is still 
progress to be made. I want to thank all of those that are continuing 
the fight for justice and equality as they honor the legacy of Rosa 
Parks.

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