Vigilance against Bigotry and Intolerance Demands a National Rosa Parks Day

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Two things will happen within forty eight hours of each other. One is infuriating. The other one should be cause for celebration and uplift. But both tell much about the state of race matters in America. The first is the return of nappy head ho’ shock jock, Don Imus to the airwaves. He’ll kick off his return to ABC’s flagship station, WABC, in New York City with a big townhall of the airwaves style shebang. Two days before Imus’s triumphal return, marks the date fifty two years ago, December 1, 1955, that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus.

Her courageous stand against segregation was a monumental turning point in the civil rights movement. It should have sent the lasting message that the fight against the horror of bigotry, intolerance, and racial hate must never cease. But that message has been lost, strayed, misplaced, or deliberately squashed. Imus's blaze of glory return is a huge sign that intolerance is not only alive and well in the media business, among Imus’s legions of fevered fans, but also among many more who cheered him on and ducked, dodged, deflected attention from, or flat out defended his bigoted remarks.

The spate of hanging nooses, the rise in hate crimes nationally, black and Latino gang hate violence in Los Angeles and other cities, and the resurgence of the use of racial epithets and vilification by public and private figures is more glaring evidence that intolerance and bigotry are still alive and kicking.

Re-enter Rosa Parks. What better way to kick back at these twin evils than to declare December 1, Rosa Parks Human Rights Day. Business leaders, school administrators, and elected officials should and could encourage students, workers, and residents to reaffirm in word and deed their commitment to tolerance and diversity. They in turn would urge others to honor and pay tribute to the spirit and memory of Rosa Parks