After 50 years, Alabama pardons Rosa Parks (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(Auhh, Thank you???)

After 50 years, Alabama pardons Rosa Parks

Tue Apr 18, 2006 07:06 PM ET

By Verna Gates

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - More than half a century after U.S. civil rights icon Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, the Alabama legislature on Tuesday voted to pardon her and others convicted for breaking segregation-era race laws.

The "Rosa Parks Act," approved unanimously by the state House of Representatives but opposed by three senators in the Senate, also clears the way for hundreds of other activists to wipe out their arrest records for acts of civil disobedience in the struggle for black civil rights.

The Alabama Senate revised the act to allow museums to continue to display such arrest records as well as a famous mug shot of Parks, who died last October at the age of 92. "It is long overdue," said Thad McClammy, a Democrat who sponsored the House bill. "It will bring closure."

Hundreds of people accrued arrest records in Alabama during the turbulent civil rights struggle, which was galvanized by Parks' simple act of disobedience on December 1, 1955 in Montgomery. Her arrest for refusing to give up her seat sparked a 381-day boycott by black residents of the bus system.

(more at link)

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=11882107&src=rss/domesticNews>

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. How much you wanna bet that all 3 Senators who voted against this

are repukes?

[Up2Late]

2. They better be, for their sake.

If any of them turn out to be Dems, they will be unanimously voted out of the party.

[Alexodin]

3. They belong in a museum! n/t

[Syrinx]

4. maybe

I've been trying to find the breakdown of the votes.

But the only opposition I've heard about has been from black Democratic legislators. They felt that a pardon would be a whitewash of history.

[Rex]

5. Took them long enough!

Throw all the bums out and get new bums!

[Lefty48197]

6. Doesn't mean Alabama has been pardoned...

.

[pinerow]

7. Well...that's mighty white of them...sheesh!!!

nt

[Gman]

14. Exactly my thought!

[Jack from Charlotte]

23. Didn't the Vatican "forgive" The Jews for being responsible for...

crucifying Jesus? It was in the 60's, I think. Recall the words of song writer, Tom Leherer about that saying... And Jews responded by saying... "Thanks. First good nights sleep I've had in 2000 years."

[robcon]

8. The three who voted against the act were repugs...

"...Sen. Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery, was one of three Republicans to voice opposition to the Rosa Parks Act as it passed the Senate 21-3 late Monday.

"We've just given carte blanche for people who committed crimes at the time," Dixon said.

Other "no" votes also came from Minority Leader Jabo Waggoner, R-Birmingham, and Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston..."

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060418/NEWS02/604180338/1009

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. What makes 'em believe their "pardon" will be welcome?

WAY too little, WAY too late.

[NJ Democrats]

10. It's about damn time

This sohuld have done much much sooner.

[HughBeaumont]

11. Wouldn't a "pardon" imply that she did something WRONG . . .

which she DIDN'T!?!?!?

And FUCK the Racistpublicans who voted ney, implying 50 years after the fact that Rosa was a criminal. FUCK them. Keep diggin' your own graves, Klansmen. The sooner your out of touch party is out of our lives, the sooner we can evolve and progress. Move out or get buried, because you only have the troglodyte clingers now and their numbers are dwindling fast.

[FredScuttle]

13. Absolutely

the state should issue a formal apology to her family. A pardon is another slap in the face.

[QC]

18. An apology would not clear people's records.

So what good would that do? The fact is that hundreds of people still have criminal records that they should not have, because they did nothing wrong. This act will clear everyone arrested under the Jim Crow laws, which date back to 1901.

Sounds like a good move to me. And the fact that only three legislators opposed it, out of 140, would seem to be a good thing.

Not that that will mean anything to the kneejerkers and reflexive haters around here, of course.

[FredScuttle]

20. While I understand the sentiment behind a pardon

the pastor of Parks' church asked why people who protested unjust laws need pardoning. A pardon means you are being excused for a bad act, a free pass for those who've done wrong.

It's reviving the stain of a half-century ago that courageous people like Mrs. Parks worked to erase.

Well's it's moot now...Alabama forfeited any chance to treat this lady with any respect or dignity while she was alive. The least they can do is apologize to her family for the hell they put her through.

on edit: Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald had a fascinating column on this last month:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/14173411.htm

[kainah]

21. in fact

I believe that they proposed doing this when she was alive and she rejected it precisely because it would indicate that she had done something wrong.

[newspeak]

24. my thoughts exactly

she did nothing wrong--during the inquisition they burned thousands of mostly women for being witches, maybe we should pardon those victims as well. I mean there was a law against witchcraft--an immoral, outrageous law.

[ladjf]

12. Hey, it took the Catholic Church 300 years to pardon Galileo.

[Demeter]

17. I Thought It Was 500 Years==

[ladjf]

19. OK. Here's the real stuff.

"1632. But in October of that year, he was ordered to appear before the Holy Office in Rome. The court issued a sentence of condemnation and forced Galileo to abjure. He was confined in Siena and eventually, in December 1633, he was allowed to retire to his villa in Arcetri. "

[YouthInAsia]

15. Nice that they waited til after she DIED

:puke:

[sofa king]

16. Clap. Clap. Clap.

Congratulations, Alabama. Little by little, you're leaving the 19th Century behind.

[fshrink]

22. Yeah. That's typical. Let's pardon the victim.

[noonwitch]

25. What is the purpose of this pardon? Changing the law was the justice.

No one needs to be pardoned for disobeying an unjust law, certainly not Rosa Parks. Does Alabama think doing this will increase their tourism?