Rep. Louise Bishop

Remarks for Rose Parks Remembrance Day

Monday, Feb. 9, 2009

Speech on House floor

We gather here today on Remembrance Day for Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist who galvanized the American civil rights' revolution.

Thanks to legislation I sponsored in 2002, Rosa Parks will get the recognition she deserves on this House floor each year, and I hope she will be recognized by future generations everywhere for her bravery.

Rosa Parks is honored by this legislative body because she sat down for what is right.

In doing so, she stood up for all decent people.

In marking this day, we not only recognize her singular act of bravery and vision, but we stand in humility and thankfulness for her act, which will live on for all time.

Rosa refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man in 1955. Her action led to her arrest and trial, a 381-day bus boycott, and eventually, the Supreme Court's 1956 ruling that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional.

By breaking an unjust law, Rosa Parks helped break an unjust policy.  

Unfortunately, it would take a long time for that policy to be wiped clean nationwide.

When our service men came home from the Vietnam War, de-facto segregation was still prevalent in many parts of the country. 

Imagine serving in Vietnam War to protect the lives of all American, then coming home to find that you were not welcome in many places where white soldiers – the same ones you fought next to – were welcome.

I stand here today as a state legislator mainly because of Rosa Parks' dynamic vision and her persistence for the good of all people.

She has inspired me in my life choices and I am forever grateful for her influence on me.

Rosa Parks has inspired women to run for public office, and she continues to women who will run for office in the future.

Each and every woman who holds an elected position in this chamber is requested to stand in honor of Rosa Parks because she opened doors for all dynamic women to follow their personal and professional dreams and succeed in whatever career they choose in life.

Rosa Parks tied the bond between women from all walks of life.

She was the mother of the new civil rights movement and has left an impact not just on the nation, but on all women from all walks of life.

Rosa Parks' act of civil disobedience in 1955 inspires the men and women, young and old, still today.

Rosa Parks persistence  - this one woman – had the courage to take a seat and refuse to give it up to a white gentleman…and by sitting down she was standing up for all Americans.

There is a lot for us to learn from this experience…Rosa Parks remains a persistent symbol of human dignity and is the cornerstone of an American dream that inspires us all here today.

Rosa Parks' decision opened the door for equality for both men and women. Her decision changed more than 200 years of oppression and remains part of American history.

Often, when people stand up for what they believe in, they suffer consequences. But they do it anyway because they know that in the long term, thousands and perhaps even millions of others will benefit, and that society will be better.

That's legacy of Rosa Parks.

Today is Remembrance Day for Rosa Parks, so let's work to live every day to the fullest and live to inspire our fellow men and women like Rosa Parks inspired us.

She left a legacy that we can all learn from, and in so doing, help make this world a little more tolerable and a much kinder place to live.

Thank You

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