The Politicization of a National Hero

As we all know, the nation is still mourning the loss of Mrs. Rosa Parks. During the weeks following her death, people from all across the nation have offered earnest and heartfelt tributes to this brave lady whose actions fifty years ago jumpstarted the civil rights movement in America.

But according to Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review Online, a Detroit gathering intended to celebrate the life of this great lady instead "fell into a graceless political rally." (Now when has that happened before?)

The message of Rosa Parks's courage in 1955 is a nonpartisan one. And yet, fanatical politics found their way into the ceremony via left-wing stalwarts. Al Sharpton, who has run for president as a Democrat, seemed to get moving on a pulpit strategy for another campaign at the funeral. He declared: "I heard somebody say Jim Crow is who she fought and Jim Crow is still around. But Jim Crow is old. That's not who I'm mindful of today. The problem is Jim Crow has sons."

The crowd went wild.

"One we gotta battle," Sharpton continued, "is James Crow Jr. Esq. He's a little more educated. He's a little slicker. He's a little more polished. ... He doesn't tell you that he's set against you, he sets up institutional racism. Where you have a nation respond looking for weapons in Iraq that are not there but can't see a hurricane in Louisiana that is there."

Ah yes. President Bush — the same blind president who called the governor of Louisiana to insist on a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans — didn't even see hurricane Katrina coming. Regardless, he was probably still looking for the weapons in Iraq. You know, the ones most of the Democratic politicians (Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Bill Clinton ... ), who also spoke at Rosa Parks's funeral, thought were a threat too.

Jesse Jackson, also a former Democratic presidential candidate, announced during his eulogy — the eulogy — that the president had nominated "an extreme right-wing judge, antithetical to everything Rosa Parks ever stood for." Presumably Jackson was talking about Judge Samuel Alito, who President Bush had nominated the same week to the Supreme Court. Alito is for segregation? That's news to ... everyone. Jackson must have gotten swept away. That sometimes happens at political conventions. People get silly and carried away demonizing the guy they want to beat. But, oh wait. This wasn't a political convention.

It was a funeral.

Rosa Parks deserved better. Americans who can be well served by her example for decades to come deserve better.

Old news? Perhaps -- it did happen three weeks ago. But this is just one more example of the idiocy of the liberal left, and the lack of leadership of those so-called "black community leaders" who use their public brandings as "men of God" to repress the black community for their own profit.

I, for one, am thankful that my parents taught me better than that. I am thankful for Mrs. Parks, the battle she waged and the life she lived. And I am thankful for the United States of America, where I am not a victim of institutional racism, but where I have lived the American dream of freedom and liberty, where all men are created equal. After that, it's up to each and every individual to determine their own future. And mine looks pretty good from here.