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Reps. Dehn and Moran Introduce Resolution Honoring Rosa Parks

Monday, February 4, 2013

ST. PAUL, MN – Today Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL-Minneapolis) and Rep. Rena Moran (DFL-St. Paul) introduced a resolution honoring the memory of Rosa Parks on the 100th anniversary of her birth.

The two legislators read the following statement on the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives after introducing the resolution.

“On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus in Montgomery, Alabama to go home after a long day of work.

As the bus filled up, the driver told four African-Americans to give up their seats so whites who were standing in the aisle could sit down. Three of them complied, but Rosa refused, telling the bus driver that she didn’t think she should have to move. The decision led to her arrest for violating a Montgomery segregation law.

Ms. Parks’ courageous act over 50 years ago was not spontaneous. She did not refuse to give up her seat simply because she was tired from a long day’s work as some have suggested. In her words, “the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

Ms. Parks’ arrest sparked a boycott of Montgomery’s city buses that lasted 381 days, making it one of the largest and most successful movements against racial segregation in our nation’s history.

On what would have been her 100th birthday, we are honored to introduce a resolution recognizing Ms. Parks’ immeasurable contributions to shaping a more equal, just, and inclusive society.

As we honor her legacy, we are reminded of countless others, such as the late Hubert H. Humphrey, who strove to extend civil rights to all people. The Minnesota icon’s historic speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention calling on the nation to “walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights” was also a key moment in the struggle for equality.

Let us never forget the hardship, sacrifice, and pain endured by leaders like Ms. Parks. Please join us in honoring her legacy and committing to protect America’s promise of liberty and justice for all.”