The Rosa Parks Story (2002)

The Rosa Parks Story is a Lifetime Movie, an 88-minute drama-documentary that was shown on television and released on DVD in 2002. Directed by Julie Dash, and based on a screenplay written by Paris Qualles, this film is a (partial) biography of a woman, who is by now a famous member of the civil rights movement in the United States.

Rosa Parks lived to be more than 90 years old. But this film covers only the first half of her life. For information about her life after the Montgomery Bus Boycott, you must turn to her autobiography or one of the numerous books written about her (for some suggestions, see the PS below).

The cast includes the following:

** Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (1913-2005) – played by Angela Bassett
** Rosa as a child in 1924 – played by Chardé Manzy
** Leona Edwards McCauley (1888-1979), her mother – played by Cicely Tyson
** Raymond Parks (1903-1977), her husband – played by Peter Francis James

** Johnnie Carr (1911-2008), her friend and a member of NAACP – played by Tonea Stewart
** E. D. Nixon (1899-1987), president of the Montgomery chapter of NAACP – played by Von Coulter
** Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), civil rights leader – played by (King’s son) Dexter King
** Clifford Durr (1899-1975), civil rights attorney – played by Mike Pniewski

** James F. Blake (1912-2002), a bus driver – played by Sonny Shroyer
** A registrar – played by Patsy Benson
** A librarian – played by Stephanie Astalos-Jones

[There may be a few spoilers ahead. However, all facts mentioned in this review are part of the public record, so they cannot really be described as spoilers.]

The film begins with a prologue and ends with an epilogue. In between we have the main story which is divided into four chapters. Here is a summary:

PROLOGUE – December 1956
Rosa and a reporter get on a bus in order to mark and celebrate the end of the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott.

CHAPTER ONE – 1924
In 1924 Rosa is a student at Montgomery Industrial School for Girls.

CHAPTER TWO – 1931-1932
In 1931 Rosa meets Raymond, her future husband, who is a barber. Secretly, he is also involved in support work for the Scottsboro Boys, nine African-American teenagers who are accused of raping two young white women. In 1932 Rosa and Raymond are married.

CHAPTER THREE – 1942
Rosa has her first confrontation with the nasty white bus driver James F. Blake. She joins NAACP and starts to work as a secretary for E. D. Nixon, president of the Montgomery chapter of NAACP. When she wants to register for the vote, she is rejected twice, but she succeeds the third time.

CHAPTER FOUR – 1955
In March, Claudette Colvin refuses to give up her seat on a bus. She is arrested for violating the law of segregation. The leaders of NAACP discuss if they can use her case to spearhead a campaign against segregation, but they decide against it because she is merely 15 years old.

On 1 December Rosa Parks has her second confrontation with James F. Blake when she refuses to give up her seat on his bus. She is arrested and spends one night in jail. When she is bailed out, NAACP decides to use her case in a campaign against segregation.

On the day of her trial, 5 December, African-Americans of Montgomery stage a one-day boycott of the public buses to protest the laws of segregation. Since it is a success, it is decided to make it permanent. It runs for 381 days. On 20 December 1956, the city and the bus company give in and the boycott is called off.

EPILOGUE – January 2000
President Bill Clinton honours Rosa Parks in his State of the Union address saying: “She is sitting down with the First Lady tonight and she may get up or not as she chooses.”

HISTORICAL ACCURACY
This film is based on a true story, but this does not mean that everything in it is historically correct. The producers of the film have used the device known as artistic license several times. Here are some examples:

 
THE ACTORS CHOSEN FOR THIS FILM
In chapter 1 Rosa is 11. For this chapter the producers used a young girl. For the other chapters and the prologue, they used Ms Bassett who was born in 1958. When the film was shot in 2001, Ms Bassett was 43. This works well with chapter 4 and the prologue when Rosa is 42 and 43. But what about the rest of the film? In chapter 3, Rosa is 29. Can Ms Bassett pass for someone who is 29? Maybe. In chapter 2, Rosa is 18 and 19. Can Ms Bassett pass for someone who is 18 or 19? No. She cannot. If you ask me, the producers should have found another actress to play Rosa in chapter 2.

The role of Clifford Durr is played by Mike Pniewski, who does not look like Durr at all. They have only two things in common: they are both white and male.

PROBLEMS OF CHRONOLOGY
When we see the film, we get the impression that Rosa’s three attempts to register as a voter took place over a period of perhaps three weeks in 1942. In reality this took place over a period of three years, from 1943 to 1945.

According to the film, the first confrontation with the nasty bus driver James F. Blake took place in 1942. In fact it happened in 1943. According to the film, Rosa walks home after this confrontation. She walks five miles in the rain. But when she finally gets home, she is not wet at all.

In the film, Rosa is fired from her job at a department store in December 1955. The owner claims business is slow, even though it is December and Christmas means extra business. The real reason, of course, is Rosa’s role in the bus boycott. However, in the real world, Rosa was fired in January 1956. The producers have changed the chronology for no obvious reason.

NAME CHANGE
In the film, we hear about a young black man – Elijah Banks - who is accused of raping a white woman. When I searched the internet for information about him, I did not find anything. However, I found out that a young man named Jeremiah Reeves was accused of raping a white woman at that time.

I think the producers decided to change the real name and use a fictional name instead, although I do not know why. All other characters in the film are portrayed with a real name. Why did the producers feel they had to change this name?

PRECEDENTS
Claudette Colvin (born 1939) was arrested in March 1955, nine months before Rosa was arrested. Claudette is mentioned in the film, as you can see from my summary above, but she is not seen. No actress plays this character. In fact, neither Claudette nor Rosa was the first African-American who refused to accept the law of segregation on public transport. Here are a few examples:

** Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) refused to give up her seat on a train in 1884
** Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) refused to give up his seat on a bus in 1942
** Irene Morgan (1917-2007) refused to give up her seat in 1944
** Jo Ann Robinson (1912-1992) refused to give up her seat on a bus in 1949
** Sarah Louise Keys (born 1929) refused to give up her seat on a bus in 1952

None of these earlier examples is mentioned in the film.

A FORGOTTEN LAW SUIT
According to the film, the bus boycott forced the city and the bus company to give in. But is this really true? It is certainly not the whole story. There is more to it. Claudette joined four other African-American women who had suffered the same fate as her in a suit that is known as Browder v. Gayle.

The four women are: Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary Louise Smith, and Jeanette Reese (the latter left the case before it reached the court because of intimidation from the white community). The case was tried in a federal district court which found in favour of the plaintiffs (2–1). The city appealed to the US Supreme Court which upheld the ruling of the lower court.

On 13 November 1956 the ruling was announced, but Mayor Gayle refused to obey it until someone from the US Supreme Court showed up in Montgomery and told him to do so. On 17 December 1956 a motion for clarification and a new hearing was denied. And three days later, on 20 December 1956, Mayor Gayle was handed official written notice by federal marshals.

The city and the bus company gave in on 20 December 1956 because of the court ruling, not because of the long-running boycott. The city and the bus company knew they had lost. The suit Browder v. Gayle, which played an important (in fact a decisive) role in this conflict, is not even mentioned in the film.

A LIMITED VICTORY
When we see the film, we get the impression that the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a breakthrough in the struggle for civil rights in the US. By her refusal to give up her seat on the bus, Rosa Parks delivered the spark that ignited this momentous campaign.

When we look at the case from one angle, this impression is true. When we look at the case from another angle, it is not true at all. The victory of the campaign was limited and short-lived. There was a strong backlash from the white community. There were violent attacks on blacks and property connected with blacks in the following months and the city of Montgomery strengthened the laws of segregation in other areas.

The white community was not going to give up its power and privileges without a fight, even though the US Supreme Court had ruled against it. This backlash that followed the victory of December 1956 is not mentioned in the film.

CONCLUSION
Rosa Parks played an important role in the civil rights movement and her story deserves to be told. Unfortunately, this film provides a simplified version of the real story. Key elements are left out, because they might disturb the simplified version of events.

The story of Rosa Parks comes alive in The Rosa Parks Story. It is an interesting film, but as you can see from the above, it has some flaws, and some of them cannot be described as minor. Some of them are quite serious. For this reason I think it deserves a rating of three stars.

PS # 1. Regarding Rosa Parks, see for instance Rosa Parks by Douglas Brinkley (2000) (2005) and The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis (2013) (2014).

PS # 2. Regarding Claudette Colvin and her case, see Claudette Colvin: Twice towards Justice by Phillip Hoose (2009) (2011).

PS # 3. Regarding Irene Morgan and her case which went all the way to the US Supreme Court, see Justice Older than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree by Katie McCabe (2009) (2011).

PS # 4. Regarding Sarah Louise Keys and her case, see Take a Seat – Make a Stand by Amy Nathan (2006).

PS # 5. Regarding Jo Ann Robinson, see The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women who started it edited by David Garrow (1987).

PS # 6. Regarding Clifford Durr, see The Conscience of a Lawyer: Clifford J. Durr and American Civil Liberties, 1899-1975 by John A. Salmond (1990).

PS # 7. The following item is available online: 

“10 Women who refused to give up their seats before Rosa Parks” 

by Susan Ozmore, 6 June 2015.

PS # 8. Angela Bassett plays Coretta Scott King in the drama-documentary Betty & Coretta from 2013 about Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King, the widows of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

PS # 9. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks is a documentary film which premiered in 2022. This film is based on the book written by Jeanne Theoharis (2013) (2014).

 

* * *

 

The Rosa Parks Story,

A Lifetime Movie,

88 minutes, 2002

 

* * *