Few people remember Claudette Colvin. On March 2, 1955 Claudette, a 15 year old black student, boarded a public bus in Montgomery Alabama. When she refused to give up her seat to a white man, she was handcuffed, arrested and removed from the bus.

Claudette was a member of the NAACP youth council in Montgomery. One of the council’s advisors was a lady later to gain fame for a similar arrest, Rosa Parks.
Initially the NAACP considered a full defense for Claudette Colvin. However when it was discovered that she was pregnant, it was decided that she was not an appropriate symbol for the cause.

On December 1 of that same year, Rosa Parks followed the example set by Claudette Colvin and was arrested for violating segregation ordinances by not giving up her seat to a white man. Unlike Claudette, Rosa Parks was a well respected member of the community and already deeply involved in the infant civil rights movement.
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In reality, Ms.Parks did comply with the ordinance in that she did enter the front of the bus, pay her fare, then exit the bus, reenter at a rear door and then take a seat in the first row of the section of the bus designated for “coloreds.” However the ordinance did provide that the bus driver could, at his discretion, move the sign designating the colored section in order to afford more seats to white folks. When the driver did this, Ms.Parks refused to get up and move and was subsequently arrested. She was found guilty and paid a fine of $10 plus $4 court costs.

Fifty years have passed since Colvin and Parks tested the segregated waters of the deep south. Fifty years of social reform that has, for the most part, resulted in an essentially level playing field for all races. Yet there is another tidbit to the story.

In November of 2004, the citizens of Alabama went to the polls with the option to eliminate segregationist provisions in the Alabama constitution. Long un-enforced, the laws that provided for separate educational facilities and restrictive voting requirements for non-whites slept quietly in the State Constitution. Yet by a slim margin, the voters elected to keep the provisions in that governing body of law.

In the birthplace of the civil rights movement, the good Christian citizens of Alabama voted to keep the language and symbolism of segregation intact. Perhaps as a nation we are not as far removed from 1955 as we thought.

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day. We may debate the validity of a holiday to celebrate Dr. King and we may debate the nuances of his legacy. However we must never forget that discrimination based on race, religion, political affiliation or alternative ethnic background lurks not far beneath the surface and there are those who would gladly return to the days of segregation whether those being discriminated against are of a different color or simply a different belief.

“But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government.” — Andrew Jackson, Farewell Address, March 4, 1837