The Day I Sat in Rosa Park’s Seat
Another Way for week of July 28, 2023
The Day I Sat in Rosa Park’s Seat
One of the places we visited on a recent trip to Michigan was the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. I had been there as a 5th grader at Middlebury Elementary School in northern Indiana, and I remember being super excited for my first chartered bus trip. The only things I remembered from the trip were Model T Fords, a large train locomotive, and making a short hop into the city of Windsor, Canada which is just across the border from Detroit.
Slow forward about 60 years and I was eager to finally introduce my husband to the Ford Museum filled with so many interesting antiques, historical cars, and old trains (which he loves), and the histories of early airplanes. In 60 years, the displays had been enhanced, changed, grown and updated as one might expect.
As we strolled through interesting artifacts, we happened upon the bus that Rosa Parks was riding the day she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat in a Montgomery, Alabama bus, in the days when segregation was the rule. She worked downtown as a seamstress and was likely tired when the bus driver asked her to leave her seat so white folks could sit there. She refused and was thus arrested.
A guide for a small tour group was sharing stories from that era when we joined it and boarded the bus. My husband and I quickly sat down on a bench so we wouldn’t distract the other tourists from the guide’s input.
Then she paused for comments or questions. I piped up and asked, “What seat had Rosa been sitting on?”
The guide’s serious face changed to a friendly smile and said, “You are sitting where she sat.” I gulped. How fascinating.
But as we heard more explanation and stories, my excited feeling changed to empathy for the courageous but peaceful boycott that Rosa and others launched: a movement to end segregation in the Montgomery bus system. After a year of boycotting, the issue was taken up by the Supreme Court which declared laws segregating buses unconstitutional.
The history of how the museum landed this meaningful artifact was fascinating, including years where a farmer had bought and used it for storing lumber and tools. When museums (including the Smithsonian) became interested in obtaining and restoring it because of the bus’s history, careful research into its past was made. “This is the bonafide bus, right down to its number, even though it has been repainted and all cleaned up,” said the guide.
The guide at the museum stressed how Rosa Parks and her cohorts were able to keep the bus boycott free of violence, and that was not an easy task.
This experience was more than I expected out of our visit. I began to feel nudged to do more in the area of helping our communities, churches, and schools do more to end the racism that corrodes our whole nation. Fittingly, my small group at church is currently studying a newish book titled Necessary Risks: Challenges Privileged People Need to Face, by Teri McDowell Ott (Fortress Press). While I squirm at the adjective “privileged” here, I know that I don’t have to deal daily with the ramifications of my skin color and history. I can go whole days and weeks without really digging into the disadvantages and dangers faced by many people of color.
I write a lot about my father who believed strongly we need to love all people, regardless of race or nationality. We moved to the deep south before my senior year of high school (1969) where I experienced how far our country had to go in abolishing racism. We have come a long way but as already noted, there is much to be done. Praying for change, courage, and spreading love.
Read more about the Rosa Park bus here:
More info on the successful bus boycott here:
Or read a friend’s experiences on a recent Civil Rights learning tour in the deep south (7 posts):
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Comments? Questions? Your own thoughts or stories? Share here or write to me at Another Way, P.O. Box 363, Singers Glen, VA 22834, or email anotherwaymedia@yahoo.com.
Another Way is a column by Melodie Davis, in syndication since 1987. She is the author of ten books, most recently Memoir of an Unimagined Career. Another Way columns are posted at FindingHarmonyBlog.com a week after newspaper publication.
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Reading your recollection of sitting in Rosa Park’s seat reinforced to me her absolute courage. What bravery she had to have to break with precedent, even break a law to make her statement in protest.
I also recall a story Cliff told me about his experience with racism in the South. He grew up in Washington state and Idaho, a culture of mostly white people. As a teen he traveled east to go to high school. Once he boarded a city bus in Greenville, S. C. and sat in the rear because there was more space for his long legs. He didn’t notice skin color at all because he was brought up to make no distinction. On the bus, however, he did remember getting odd glances and stares. Only later did he learn about the segregation policy, whites in the front and blacks in the back. 😦
Obviously, even though we have a long way to go toward equity in this nation, laws are in place now to protect our freedoms–regardless of race.
Your husband’s move south is quite interesting, especially the Greenville SC story. I remember Dad showing us an old bathroom or drinking fountain or two in our move south, marking segregation. I’m sure you have a pretty good mix of races in a city like Jacksonville. Our churches are still one of the most segregated gatherings, unfortunately. We had a discussion about this in the small group I mentioned. Thanks for your reflections here!
Cool story bruh
I long for your understand for these sensitive topics, I wish to feel as you did on fantastic adventure of hope, story, and segregation. I wish I could feel like a diva just like Rosa parks did. I will visit this area soon to feel like the fabulous queen herself and say “nuh uh” just like she did.
Thank you so much for your comment today! I appreciate it and hope you continue on your road to adventure, story, hope, and the end of any segregation in the world. Whew.