As a student, I don’t remember much of what I learned about Rosa Parks and her story; mostly because it was barely even discussed in class. After reading the article and looking at the way her story was told, from an educator’s point of view, it shocks me to see how, what is taught, barely even touches the surface of that moment. A lot of its significance is twisted and reduced into a simple story of a tired and angry black woman refusing to move. There is so much depth and complexity that lies behind her actions. She was an activist and a community leader, something that the education system failed to inform me and many other students. The complexities behind the boycott not being taught as well brings up a lot of concerns for me. Starting with the fact that the way it is taught sort of downplays the planned and well-thought-out boycott into a random act of support by the community. There was a lot of hard work put into the planning of this very strategic protest against segregation. To me, teaching students that this was a random act of communities coming together, can really affect how they choose to voice their own beliefs towards today’s injustices. From my observations of the Latino/Hispanic community and other minorities, stories like these makes it harder for people to act. We are often pit against each other and are blinded towards the real issues; preventing these communities from coming together and finding ways to protest the system. It’s important to teach these details to our students so they can identify with activists, like Rosa Parks, and understand the importance behind a statement and the resilience behind a community that is unified.
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