Statue of Parks may join Capitol
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Printable FormatCHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Lolly Bowean
Rep. Jackson expects House approval soon
Saying he wants to honor the contributions of civil-rights leader Rosa Parks in a national display, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has proposed legislation that would place a life-size statue of her in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall, he said.
If passed, the legislation would make Parks the first African-American woman to be represented in the hall.
Placing her image among the other statues, where it would be viewed by thousands of visitors each year, would "put her contributions in its fullest and broadest context," he said.
Jackson, along with his father, Rev. Jesse Jackson, held a news conference Saturday to discuss the legislation. The younger Jackson said he expects the House to pass the bill Tuesday.
Jackson Jr. said he wants Parks' image in the hall so she will be recognized with other great Americans. Parks died Oct. 24 at age 92. She long has been considered the mother of the civil-rights movement because of her refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger in an Alabama bus.
She was one of hundreds who boycotted buses in Montgomery, Ala., and forced the company to change its racist policies. That sparked a national movement that inspired people all over the world, Jackson Jr. said.
After Parks died last month, she became the first woman to lie in honor in the vast circular room under the Capitol dome.
At the news conference, Jackson Sr. also announced that Judge Greg Mathis of TV's "Judge Mathis" will take over as the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's vice president at large.
In his new role, Mathis said, he will visit schools and try to inspire youths to fight for social justice.
Jackson's legislation directs the architect of the Capitol to obtain a statue of Parks and place it in the hall in no more than two years. Jackson said he does not know how much the statue would cost.
Statuary Hall is inside the U.S. Capitol. In 1864 the hall became home to bronze and marble statues honoring prestigious Americans.
Each state has two statues in the hall, and the total number of statues is limited to 100.
If his bill passes, Jackson said, it would allow for one more statue and not require another to be removed to accommodate Parks' statue.
Illinois has two statues in the hall: Evanston educator and social reformer Frances E. Willard, who died in 1898, and politician James Shields, who died in 1879.
At the news conference, the elder Jackson said Parks often is recognized for standing up to injustice.
But many people fail to realize that her action helped ignite a movement that changed this country, he said.
"I'm amazed how many people did not know she was a field organizer," Jackson Sr. said, pointing out that she stood up against Jim Crow laws to register to vote 10 years before Martin Luther King Jr. became prominent as a fighter for social justice, equality and civil rights.
Rep. Jackson proposed the legislation Oct. 26, two days after Parks died. Since then it has gained more than 100 supporters, including Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), and John Lewis (D-Ga.)
A similar bill is being moved along in the U.S. Senate and is supported by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).