[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 173 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1690-E1691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROSA PARKS' ACT OF CIVIL 
                              DISOBEDIENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 1, 2015

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, sixty years ago today, Rosa Parks refused 
to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Through a simple 
act of civil disobedience, she inspired a movement, gained worldwide 
acclaim, and secured a place in American history.
  However, on that cold morning in Montgomery, Mrs. Parks was not 
creating a legacy--she simply saw a wrong and wanted to right it. She 
showed us that any person can make a difference if they have the 
strength of their convictions. By simply sitting down on the bus, she 
turned an ordinary act into something extraordinary, and inspired 
thousands in Montgomery--and later across America--to do the same.
  But Mrs. Parks is more than just a figure to be revered--she is an 
example to be upheld. And on days like today, we must ask ourselves 
whether we honor her with our actions as well as our words.
  Because of the work of Mrs. Parks and her contemporaries, our nation 
is an undeniably different place than it was sixty years ago. Jim Crow 
is no longer the law of the South. Segregation is no longer legally 
mandated. An African-American is President and the Congressional Black 
Caucus counts 43 members.

[[Page E1691]]

  But there are still too many wrongs that need righting. The current 
African-American unemployment rate, 9.2%, is twice that of white 
workers, 4.4%. During the first half of this year, black Americans 
killed by the police were more than twice as likely to be unarmed as 
white Americans killed by police. Black children are suspended and 
expelled from school at three times the rate of white children. Black 
churches--a longtime refuge for our community--are still the target of 
violent extremists.
  In the face of such injustice, we must be compelled--as Rosa Parks 
and countless others were in their time--to act.
  We know that this will not be an easy fight. We know we must prepare 
for great sacrifice. There will be violence visited upon us--like the 
shooting of Black Lives Matter protesters in Minneapolis this past 
week.
  But the price we pay will bring about change--painfully slow at 
times--that we can pass on to the next generation. We are seeing this 
in places like South Carolina, where Walter Scott's killer is facing 
trial. We are seeing it in Chicago, where the police chief is out and 
Laquan McDonald's killer is being prosecuted. We are seeing it at the 
U.S. Department of Justice where troubling police practices are 
receiving deserved scrutiny. We are even seeing it here in Congress, 
where bipartisan reforms are underway that will address some of the 
racial disparities in our criminal justice system.
  I am humbled to have worked with Mrs. Parks for more than 20 years, 
and I am fortunate to have been her friend for many more. Today, as we 
honor the actions that brought her global recognition, I hope we do so 
in kind--with actions worthy of her memory.

                          ____________________