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Most books leave out the story of the 381 day bus boycott

involving thousands of people.

Most books show Parks on her own,

leaving out her role with the NAACP

and trips to the Highlander Center.

(Pictured here with educator Septima

Clark.)

Jo Ann Gibson Robinson

was one of the main

organizers of the

Montgomery Bus Boycott.

The Politics of Children’s Literature:What’s Wrong with the Rosa ParksMythArticle. By Herbert Kohl. 6 pages.

A critical analysis that challenges the myths in children’s books about

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Download PDF.

Issues 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 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 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. [Download PDF for rest of article with myths and facts.]

Why is this important?

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

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One of the few children’s

books that places Rosa

Parks in the context of an

organized movement.

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.

By Herbert Kohl, the author of more than forty books, including the bestselling

classic 36 Children. A recipient of the National Book Award and the Robert F.

Kennedy Book Award, he was founder and first director of the Teachers & Writers

Collaborative in New York City and established the PEN West Center in San

Francisco, where he lives.

Article originally published by Rethinking Schools.

Related resources on the Zinn Education Project website

Click here for lessons, films, and books for teaching the full story of Rosa Parks.

Click here for lessons, films, and books for teaching about the Montgomery Bus

Boycott and earlier challenges to Jim Crow on public transportation.

Keywords: African American, European American, Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr., National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Freedom Train,

U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Highlander Folk School, Tennessee, Voices of Freedom,

Henry Hampton, Steve Fayer, E.D. Nixon, Women’s Political Council, Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, Alabama State

University, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

Comments

Extraordinarily important discussion, lest we lose the heart and soul and meaning and signficance of the Civil

Rights Movement, and of history in general. As a middle school teacher I find Teaching Tolerance's (free)

"Mighty Times" videos to do an excellent job here. I showed "Children's March" to my 6th-graders with

wonderful results -- the central actors were kids like them (I was one at the time) and the (unspoken)

message is clearly that they, not some "great man," are the key to the future. Teaching Tolerance's similarly

good DVD on Rosa Parks, unfortunately, is listed as "temporarily out of print." Hope they get it back!

http://www.tolerance.org/teaching-kits

- Kipp Dawson

Very important and timely. Suggest using TeachingTolerance's excellent video, "Children's March" (free to

teachers at www.teachingtolerance.org). They also have an excellent video re Rosa Parks which was out of

print last time I checked and needs to be back in circulation.

- Kipp Dawson

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