Rosa Parks

It was sad to hear today that Rosa Parks has died aged 92.
Reading some of her comments has left me wondering about a few things.
The first thing was her correction of a longstanding mistake:
History too often maintained "that my feet were hurting and I didn't know why I refused to stand up when they told me. But the real reason of my not standing up was I felt that I had a right to be treated as any other passenger. We had endured that kind of treatment for too long."

Another point I think should be considered is that it was not unknown for people to resist these disgraceful laws, they were not meekly followed, it was simply the case that so often resistance was dealt a swift and painful blow:
"It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in."

Another thing I have always wondered about is who was the man that asked her to move? What are, or were, his thoughts? For me this is perhaps the most critical question we can ask. Why is it that people want to treat each other so badly? I am always led by such wondering to consider every aspect of ordinary life, to make sure I am not guilty of doing bad things to others, just because that's the way things are. Sadly I always come back with the same answer, yes I continue to exploit others and will continue to do so because that's the way things are, and I don't have the strength to stand out or stand up, or even sit down.

I just hope there are more Rosa Parks to stand up to me, and others who will seize the significance of these acts.