I spoke with my students about the misimpressions that many people have about the Civil Rights Movement, focusing on three in particular. The first was that Dr. King, while an excellent representative of the Civil Rights Movement, was not perfect. Most people know about his widely publicized struggles with marital fidelity, but when asked about him, they do not know that he was not all that physically imposing. While he has become a giant of a man due to his pursuit of civil rights through the means of non-violent civil disobedience, he only stood five foot and seven inches tall.
The second was that the Civil Rights Movement did not actually end with the end of segregation. Racism, and systemic racism, is sadly present even today, but some people use Dr. King as a cover, even suggesting this national holiday indicates that the fight has been won. However, if that were true, he would not have been assassinated for his beliefs three years after the Voting Rights Act (which has been systematically dismantled in recent years) was passed and five full years after President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. He was still protesting the disparity between Americans of different ethnicities--especially in their wages, opportunities, and working conditions.
The third was the common misconception that Rosa Parks earned her fame by being a tired old woman who just wanted to rest and stubbornly refused to give up her seat to a white man. This image of her persists into today, suggesting that her decision to sit in the white section of the bus was almost like an accident and that her refusal to move could be attributed to tired stubbornness. However, Rosa Parks was an attractive middle-aged woman at the time of her arrest who quite deliberately sat where she did with the intention of causing her own arrest. In fact, she was one of several that were doing so. She was the one chosen to be the face of the movement in Montgomery by its leaders--including Dr. King--due to her well-known integrity.
There were a few small instances today that made it clear to me that we still have a long way to go. However, I'm happy to say that most of my students responded quite positively. If anything, those students' reactions helped mitigate the fact that we had to be in school due to the requirement to make up a snow day.
The second was that the Civil Rights Movement did not actually end with the end of segregation. Racism, and systemic racism, is sadly present even today, but some people use Dr. King as a cover, even suggesting this national holiday indicates that the fight has been won. However, if that were true, he would not have been assassinated for his beliefs three years after the Voting Rights Act (which has been systematically dismantled in recent years) was passed and five full years after President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. He was still protesting the disparity between Americans of different ethnicities--especially in their wages, opportunities, and working conditions.
The third was the common misconception that Rosa Parks earned her fame by being a tired old woman who just wanted to rest and stubbornly refused to give up her seat to a white man. This image of her persists into today, suggesting that her decision to sit in the white section of the bus was almost like an accident and that her refusal to move could be attributed to tired stubbornness. However, Rosa Parks was an attractive middle-aged woman at the time of her arrest who quite deliberately sat where she did with the intention of causing her own arrest. In fact, she was one of several that were doing so. She was the one chosen to be the face of the movement in Montgomery by its leaders--including Dr. King--due to her well-known integrity.
There were a few small instances today that made it clear to me that we still have a long way to go. However, I'm happy to say that most of my students responded quite positively. If anything, those students' reactions helped mitigate the fact that we had to be in school due to the requirement to make up a snow day.
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