Expert answer:write 3-4 pages essay.
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loewen_introduction.pdf
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Essay:
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APA format
1100-1300 words
Please avoid plagiarism
Use simple words as much as you can
More explanation about the essay:
Utilizing two to three readings for the course, answer why is philosophy and ideology significant
to the concept of history? According to the sources, what is the purpose of history? What greater
synthesis, or definition, of history can you generate from having interpreted the three readings?
How does that synthesis compare or contrast with your experiences studying history? How does
all of this inform your present concept of history?
❖ I will attach two of the readings.
The Politics of Children’s Literature
What’s Wrong with the Rosa Parks Myth
By Herbert Kohl
Issues
the two names that most children associate
with the Civil Rights Movement, the other
being Martin Luther King Jr. The image of
“Rosa Parks the Tired” exists on the level of
a national cultural icon. Dozens of children’s
books and textbooks present the same version
of what might be called “Rosa Parks and the
Montgomery Bus Boycott.” This version can be
synthesized as follows:
Rosa Parks was a poor seamstress. She lived
in Montgomery, Ala., during the 1950s.
In those days there was still segregation in
parts of the United States. That meant that
Associated Press
of racism and direct confrontation
between African American and European American people in the United States are usually
considered too sensitive to be dealt with directly
in the elementary school classroom. When African Americans and European Americans are
involved in confrontation in children’s texts,
the situation is routinely described as a problem
between individuals that can be worked out on
a personal basis. In the few cases where racism
is addressed as a social problem, there has to be
a happy ending.
This is most readily apparent in the biographical treatment of Rosa Parks, one of
African Americans walk to work during the first days of the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott.
The Politics of Children’s Literature—Zinn Education Project
1
African Americans and European Americans were not allowed to use the same public
facilities such as restaurants or swimming
pools. It also meant that whenever the city
buses were crowded, African Americans had
to give up seats in front to European Americans and move to the back of the bus.
One day on her way home from work Rosa
was tired and sat down in the front of the
bus. As the bus got crowded she was asked
to give up her seat to a European American
man, and she refused. The bus driver told
her she had to go to the back of the bus, and
she still refused to move. It was a hot day,
she was tired and angry, and she became
very stubborn.
The driver called a policeman, who arrested
Rosa. When other African Americans in
Montgomery heard this, they became angry
too, so they decided to refuse to ride the
buses until everyone was allowed to ride
together. They boycotted the buses. The
boycott, which was led by Martin Luther
King Jr., succeeded. Now African Americans
and European Americans can ride the buses
together in Montgomery. Rosa Parks was a
very brave person.
This story seems innocent enough. Rosa
Parks is treated with respect, and the African
American community is given credit for running the boycott and winning the struggle.
On closer examination, however, this version
reveals some distressing characteristics that
serve to turn a carefully planned movement
for social change into a spontaneous outburst
based upon frustration and anger. The following
annotations on the previous summary suggest
that we need a new story, one not only more in
line with the truth but one that shows the organizational skills and determination of the African American community in Montgomery and
the role of the bus boycott in the larger struggle
to desegregate Montgomery and the South.
Correcting the Myth
1. Rosa Parks was a poor, tired seamstress.
She lived in Montgomery, Ala., during the
1950s. Rosa Parks was one of the first women
in Montgomery to join the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
and was its secretary for years. At the NAACP
she worked with chapter president E.D.
Nixon, who was also vice president of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Parks
learned about union struggles from him. She
also worked with the youth division of the
NAACP, and she took a youth NAACP group
to visit the Freedom Train when it came to
Montgomery in 1954. The train, which carried the originals of the U.S. Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence, was
traveling around the United States promoting
the virtues of democracy. Since its visit was
a federal project, access to the exhibits could
not be segregated. Parks took advantage of
that fact to visit the train. There, she and the
members of the youth group mingled freely
with European Americans who were also
looking at the documents. This overt act of
crossing the boundaries of segregation did
not endear Parks to the Montgomery political
and social establishment.
Parks’ work as a seamstress in a large
department store was secondary to her community work. In addition, as she says in an
interview in My Soul Is Rested, she had almost
a life history of “being rebellious against
being mistreated because of my color.” She
was well known to African American leaders
in Montgomery for her opposition to segregation, her leadership abilities, and her moral
strength. Since the 1954 Brown v. Board of
Education decision, she had been working
to desegregate the Montgomery schools. She
had also attended an interracial meeting at
the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee a
few months before the boycott. Highlander
was known throughout the South as a radical education center that was overtly planning for the total desegregation of the South.
The Politics of Children’s Literature—Zinn Education Project
2
At that meeting, which dealt with plans for
of the African American educators felt that
school desegregation, Parks indicated that
young children do not need to be exposed to
she intended to participate in other attempts
the violent history of segregation. They worto break down the barriers
ried about the effects such expoof segregation. To call Rosa
sure would have on race relations
Parks a poor tired seamstress
in their classrooms and especially
To call Rosa Parks
and not talk about her role
about provoking rage on the part
a poor tired
as a community leader is to
of African American students.
seamstress and
turn an organized struggle
The other educators felt that,
for freedom into a personal
given the resurgence of overt racnot talk about her
act of frustration. It is a
ism in the United States, allowing
role as a community
thorough misrepresentation
rage and anger to come out was
leader is to turn
of the Civil Rights Movethe only way African American
ment in Montgomery and an
and European American children
an organized struggle
insult to Parks as well.
could work toward a common
for freedom into
life. They felt that conflict was a
2. In those days there was still
a
personal
act
of
positive thing that could be healsegregation in parts of the
ing when confronted directly and
frustration.
United States. That meant
that avoiding the horrors of racthat African Americans and
ism was just another way of perEuropean Americans were
petuating them. I agree with this
not allowed to use the same public facilisecond group.
ties. The existence of legalized segregation in
the South during the 1950s is integral to the
story of the Montgomery bus boycott, yet it
is an embarrassment to many school people
and difficult to explain to children without
accounting for the moral corruption of the
majority of the European American community in the South. Locating segregation in
the past is a way of avoiding dealing with its
current manifestations and implying that racism is no longer a major problem. Describing segregation passively (“There was still
segregation” instead of “European Americans
segregated facilities so that African Americans
couldn’t use them”) also ignores the issue of
legalized segregation, even though Parks was
arrested for a violation of the Alabama law
that required segregation in public facilities.
It doesn’t talk overtly about racism. And it
refers to “parts” of the United States, softening the tone and muddying the reference to
the South. I’ve raised the question of how to
expose children to the reality of segregation
and racism to a number of educators, both
African American and European American.
Most of the European American and a few
3. Whenever the city buses were crowded,
African Americans had to give up seats in
front to European Americans and move to
the back of the bus. Actually, African Americans were never allowed to sit in the front of
the bus in the South in those days. The front
seats were reserved for European Americans.
Between five and ten rows back, the “colored” section began. When the front filled
up, African Americans seated in the “colored” section had to give up their seats and
move toward the back of the bus. Thus, for
example, an elderly African American would
have to give up his or her seat to a European American teenager at the peril of being
arrested.
4. One day on her way home from work Rosa
was tired and sat down in the front of the
bus. Parks did not sit in the front of the bus.
She sat in the front row of the “colored” section. When the bus got crowded she refused
to give up her seat in the “colored” section
to a European American. It is important to
point this out as it indicates quite clearly
that it was not her intent, initially, to break
The Politics of Children’s Literature—Zinn Education Project
3
the segregation laws. At this point the story
lapses into the familiar and refers to Rosa
Parks as “Rosa.” The question of whether to
use the first name for historical characters in
a factual story is complicated. One argument
is that young children will more readily identify with characters presented in a personalized and familiar way. However, given that it
was a sanctioned social practice in the South
during the time of the story for European
Americans to call African American adults by
their first names as a way of reinforcing the
African Americans’ inferior status (African
Americans could never call European Americans by their first names without breaking the
social code of segregation), it seems unwise
to use that practice in the story. In addition,
it’s reasonable to assume that Parks was not
any more tired on that one day than on other
days. She worked at an exhausting full-time
job and was also active full time in the community. To emphasize her being tired is
another way of saying that her defiance was
an accidental result of her fatigue and consequent short temper. Rage, however, is not
a one-day thing, and Parks acted with full
knowledge of what she was doing.
5. As the bus got crowded she was asked to
give up her seat to a European American
man, and she refused. The bus driver told
her she had to go to the back of the bus, and
she still refused to move. It was a hot day,
she was tired and angry, and she became
very stubborn. The driver called a policeman who arrested Rosa. This is the way
that Parks, in her book My Soul Is Rested,
described her experiences with buses:
I had problems with bus drivers over the
years because I didn’t see fit to pay my money
into the front and then go to the back. Sometimes bus drivers wouldn’t permit me to get
on the bus, and I had been evicted from the
bus. But, as I say, there had been incidents
over the years. One of the things that made
this [incident] … get so much publicity was
the fact that the police were called in and I
was placed under arrest. See, if I had just been
evicted from the bus and he hadn’t placed
me under arrest or had any charges brought
against me, it probably could have been just
another incident.
In the book Voices of Freedom by Henry
Hampton and Steve Fayer, Parks describes that
day in the following way:
On Dec. 1, 1955, I had finished my day’s
work as a tailor’s assistant in the Montgomery Fair Department Store and I was on my
way home. There was one vacant seat on the
Cleveland Avenue bus, which I took, alongside a man and two women across the aisle.
There were still a few vacant seats in the white
section in the front, of course. We went to the
next stop without being disturbed.
On the third, the front seats were occupied
and this one man, a white man, was standing. The driver asked us to stand up and let
him have those seats, and when none of us
moved at his first words, he said, “You all
make it light on yourselves and let me have
those seats.” And the man who was sitting
next to the window stood up, and I made
room for him to pass by me. The two women
across the aisle stood up and moved out.
When the driver saw me still sitting, he asked
if I was going to stand up and I said, “No, I’m
not.” And he said, “Well, if you don’t stand
up, I’m going to call the police and have you
arrested.” I said, “You may do that.”
He did get off the bus, and I still stayed
where I was. Two policemen came on the
bus. One of the policemen asked me if the bus
driver had asked me to stand and I said yes.
He said, “Why don’t you stand up?” And I
asked him, “Why do you push us around?”
He said, “I do not know, but the law is the law
and you’re under arrest.”
Mere anger and stubbornness could not
account for the clear resolve with which Parks
acted. She knew what she was doing, understood
the consequences, and was prepared to confront
segregation head-on at whatever sacrifice she
had to make.
The Politics of Children’s Literature—Zinn Education Project
4
6. When other African Americans in MontRobinson, an English professor at Alabama
gomery heard this, they became angry too,
State University in Montgomery, an African
so they decided to refuse to ride the buses
American university. In 1949, Gibson was
until everyone was allowed to ride together.
put off a bus in Montgomery for refusing to
They boycotted the buses. The connection
move to the back of an almost empty bus.
between Parks’ arrest and the boycott is a
She and other women resolved to do somemystery in most accounts of what happened
thing about bus segregation. The boycott
in Montgomery. Community support for the
was an event waiting to take place, and that
boycott is portrayed as being instantaneous
is why it could be mobilized over a single
and miraculously effective the very day after
weekend. Parks’ arrest brought it about
Parks was arrested. Things don’t happen that
because she was part of the African American
way, and it is an insult to the
leadership in Montgomery and
intelligence and courage of the
Parks’ arrest brought was trusted not to cave in under
African American community
the pressure everyone knew she
the boycott about
in Montgomery to turn their
would be exposed to, not the
planned resistance to segregaleast of which would be threats
because she was
tion into a spontaneous emoto her life. This story of collecpart of the African
tional response.
tive decision-making, willed risk,
American leadership and coordinated action is more
The actual situation was
more interesting and complex.
in Montgomery and dramatic than the story of an
Not only had Parks defied the
angry individual who sparked
was
trusted
not
to
bus segregation laws in the past,
a demonstration; it is one that
cave in under
according to E.D. Nixon, in the
has more to teach children who
three months preceding her
themselves may one day have
pressure.
arrest at least three other Afrito organize and act collectively
can American people had been
against oppressive forces.
arrested in Montgomery for
7. The boycott, which was led by Martin
refusing to give up their bus seats to EuroLuther King Jr., succeeded. Now African
pean American people. In each case, Nixon
Americans and European Americans can
and other people in leadership positions in
ride the buses together in Montgomery.
the African American community in MontRosa Parks was a very brave person. The
gomery investigated the background of the
boycott was planned by the WPC, E.D.
person arrested. They were looking for someNixon and others in Montgomery. Martin
one who had the respect of the community
Luther King Jr. was a new member of the
and the strength to deal with the racist police
community. He had just taken over the Dexforce as well as all of the publicity that would
ter Avenue Baptist Church, and when Nixon
result from being at the center of a court
told him that Parks’ arrest was just what
challenge.
everybody was waiting for to kick off a bus
This leads to the most important point left
boycott and assault the institution of segregaout in popularized accounts of the Monttion, King was at first reluctant. However, the
gomery bus boycott. Community leaders
community people chose him to lead, and
had long considered a boycott as a tactic to
he accepted their call. The boycott lasted 381
achieve racial justice. Of particular imporinconvenient days, something not usually
tance in this discussion was an African
mentioned in children’s books. It did sucAmerican women’s organization in Montceed and was one of the events that sparked
gomery called the Women’s Political Council
the entire Civil Rights Movement. People
(WPC). It was headed by Jo Ann Gibson
who had been planning an overt attack on
The Politics of Children’s Literature—Zinn Education Project
5
Associated Press
Rosa Parks remained an activist throughout her long life. In this 1984 photo, Parks participates in an anti-apartheid demonstration
in front of the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C.
segregation for years took that victory as a
sign that the time was ripe even though the
people involved in the Montgomery boycott
did not themselves anticipate such a result.
Concluding Thoughts
What remains then, is to re-title the story. The
revised version is still about Rosa Parks, but it
is also about the African American people of
Montgomery, Ala. It takes the usual, individualized version of the Rosa Parks tale and puts it
in the context of a coherent, community-based
social struggle. This does not diminish Parks in
any way. It places her, however, in the midst of a
consciously planned movement for social change,
and reminds me of the freedom song “We Shall
Not Be Moved,” for it was precisely Parks’ and the
community’s refusal to be moved that made the
boycott possible.
When the story of the Montgomery bus boycott is told merely as a tale of a single heroic
person, it leaves children hanging. Not everyone
is a hero or heroine. Of course, the idea that only
special people can create change is useful if you
want to prevent mass movements and keep change
from happening. Not every child can be a Rosa
Parks, but everyone can imagine herself or himself
as a participant in the boycott. As a tale of a social
movement and a community effort to overthrow
injustice, the Rosa Parks story opens the possibility of every child identifying herself or himself as
an activist, as someone who can help make justice
happen.
Herbert Kohl is an educator and author of numerous books.
He writes the “Good Stuff” column for Rethinking Schools
magazine.
This article was previously published in
Rethinking Our Classrooms, Vol. 1, a publication of Rethinking Schools. To order
Rethinking Our Classrooms, Vol. 1, visit
www.rethinkingschools.org or call
800-669-4192.
This article is offered for use in educational settings as part of
the Zinn Education Project, a collaboration of Rethinking
Schools and Teaching for Change, publishers and distributors
of social justice educational materials. Contact Rethinking
Schools directly for permission to reprint this material in
course packets, newsletters, books, or other publications.
For more information:
Rethinking Schools
www.rethinkingschools.org …
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