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As I write this post it is MLK Jr day, a holiday in the United States honoring the Civil Rights work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Doctor King was the first President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. As I went for a walk this morning, I had a few thoughts related to Dr. King and another thought.
I am old enough that I was able to hear Dr. King’s speeches and see him
on TV, not on YouTube, but when they actually occurred. I was living just
outside of Washington, D.C. when he made his now famous, I Have a Dream speech
at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. In anticipation of the march and
speech that would take place that weekend officials implemented curfews and
urged residents to stay away from the downtown area unless it was absolutely
necessary for you to go there. As I watched the speech, I remember asking my
mother why people were so concerned and had a problem with what he said in his
speeches and during peaceful rallies and protests (back then “peaceful protests”
were actually peaceful).
As I walked and had those thoughts I also began to think of my mother and
her trying to answer my questions, trying to explain racism to a 6-year-old.
Then I remembered 5 years later being shocked and confused when the news came
out that Dr. King had been killed, and violence occurring in response. I was
confused about why he would be killed for his speeches and why were others
reacting with violence, considering his nonviolence stance. I remembered the
laws that had passed since 1963 and naively thinking that since laws had been
passed there shouldn’t be a problem.
During the 1960’s and early 1970’s my mother worked for a research
company and worked on Department of Defense and Civil Defense projects. Several
months after Dr. Kings’ assassination she was a part of a research team sent to
Central Florida to conduct a study of local school systems. When she returned,
I overheard a conversation with friends when she explained the segregation they
had witnessed, how people interacted. As I listened my past confusion was
cleared up. I remembered thinking that with education things would have improved
and Dr. King’s dream would be achieved.
Looking back, I am surprised at just how wrong I was. Instead of learning
from history many young people have been trying to erase our history and
replace it with their philosophy that there have been no changes. It seems that
for at least the past decade many have been trying to erase or rewrite U.S.
History by applying 21st century morals to the past and judge history
by today’s morals. I was reminded of this last week and have a question of
those judging history by modern day morals and standards. That question is
while demanding that statutes, plagues, and other historical recognitions be removed
when are you going to demand that recognition of Rosa Parks be erased and
replaced with recognition honoring Claudette Colvin? Last Tuesday (January 13,
2026) Claudette Colvin passed away at age 86.
On March 2, 1955, at the age of 15 Claudette Colvin was arrested for
refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white woman in Montgomery, Alabama.
This happened months before the now famous incident with Rosa Parks. She and three
others were plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed in 1956 (Browder v. Gayle)
challenging bus segregation. Civil Rights advocates were going to use Claudette’s
arrest to publicize the wrongs of bus segregation, like they eventually did
with the Rosa Parks arrest. However, at some point Claudette became pregnant,
and advocates decided that it would not be good to publicize what happened to Claudette
because she was 15 years old, unmarried, and pregnant.
Now adays an unmarried pregnant woman (even a teenager) doesn’t have the
same stigma as it once had. So, since our 21st century morals are to
be imposed on, and used to judge historical events, when are we going to
replace Rosa Parks recognition with Claudette Colvin?
Before people lose their minds and accuse me of not respecting Rosa
Parks, or minimizing her impact on Civil Rights, that is not my mindset or
objective. I am pointing out an obvious result of applying 21st
century standards and morals when judging history. I actually believe that
Claudette Colvin’s name should be just as well known to all as Rosa Parks.
Our history is not always pretty, or virtuous, but it is something we
need to remember without altering to appease our current morals and standards! Otherwise,
we will be judged in the future by their standards, in that case we may not be seen
as noble as we would like!
That’s My Opininon, What’s Yours
