I wonder

Rosa Parks died yesterday. We learned about her in our history classes. Now that she is no longer alive I think about what her life contained. I wonder what changes she experienced in being alive for the past 92 years. I wonder what it was like to be apart of the turbulant times of the past and the unspoken tension of the present. I also wonder what changes she continued to pursue in her own life.

Several years ago my dad and I somehow started a discussion of a hypothetical situation of me dating a man with a skin color that is not my own. His response was to give me a Bible verse, one that I don't remember now and one that had nothing to do with the situation. It pissed me off for a number of reasons including that he would use my faith (for a lack of a better word or description) to deter me from dating someone of another race. It hurt that he thought people of another race were/are inferior to his race, even if it was unspoken.


I'm not without guilt. I still struggle with all these issues but I want to be more aware and more loving and more open. So, to all the Rosa Parks of the world, thank you for being courageous and for contining to change lives.

~from a white girl.