A Person Of High Character And Integrity
On December 5, 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. said in a public speech about Rosa Parks following (emphasis added):
“Just the other day, just last Thursday to be exact, one of the finest citizens in Montgomery--(Amen) not one of the finest Negro citizens (That's right), but one of the finest citizens in Montgomery--was taken from a bus (Yes) and carried to jail and arrested (Yes) because she refused to get up to give her seat to a white person. (yes, that's right) Now the press would have us believe that she refused to leave a reserved section for Negroes (Yes), but I want you to know this evening that there is no reserved section. (All right) The law has never been clarified at that point. (Hell no) Now I think I speak with legal authority--not that I have any legal authority, but I think I speak with legal authority behind me--(All right) that the law, the ordinance, the city ordinance has never been totally clarified. (That's right)
Mrs. Rosa Parks is a fine person. (Well,) And, since it had to happen, I'm happy that it happened to a person like Mrs. Parks, (Yes) for nobody can doubt the boundless outreach of her integrity. (Sure enough) Nobody can doubt the height of her character (Yes), nobody can doubt the depth of her Christian commitment and devotion to the teachings of Jesus. (All right) And I'm happy, since it had to happen, it happened to a person that nobody can call a disturbing factor in the community. (All right) Mrs. Parks is a fine Christian person, unassuming, and yet there is integrity and character there. And just because she refused to get up, she was arrested.” (Source: “Address to the first Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting” see full text here)
The Rosa Parks Event
The Rosa Parks event was well planned and organized plus Rosa Parks was planted on the bus to do what she did.
I would assume, that MLK was also fully aware of this. Thus, his long speech about Rosa Parks is somewhat disingenuous in my view.
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