Rosa Parks will be honored with a statue in the
National Statuary Hall of the U.S Capitol. Rep. Jackson was instrumental
in passing the enabling legislation.
Today some might consider it a stretch to argue that Rosa Parks
single handedly dealt a blow to Jeffersonian Democracy and the ideology
of states rights. While most people consider Rosa Parks a simple
woman whose act of courage initiated the civil rights movement,
a more comprehensive interpretation of Parks’ act redefined constitutional
theory and the role of the central government in building a more
perfect union for its citizens.
Under Thomas Jefferson’s and James Madison's limited views of democracy,
which was based on the ideology of local control, each state was
co-equal with the federal government with the same power and authority
to act and decide as the national government in their state "sphere"
of "reserved powers" – that is, those powers not specifically
given away to the federal government by the Constitution.
James Madison developed the theory of "interposition"
in the Virginia Resolution of 1798, the idea that when, in the eyes
of a state, the federal government exceeded its constitutional authority,
the states "have the right and are duty bound to interpose
for arresting the progress of the evil. In short, a state could
stop the effectiveness of a federal law's execution, administration
or interpretation by interposing itself between the people of the
state and the federal government.
Thomas Jefferson developed the theory of "nullification"
in the Kentucky Resolution of 1799. Building on the conservative
compact constitutional theory of government, he argued that states
had the right to nullify all laws that they considered unconstitutional.
Both resolutions denied the Supreme Court's authority to determine
whether laws passed by Congress were constitutional.
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case provided even greater
context for Parks’ actions when one considers the massive resistance
by the southern states to desegregation. In a shot heard around
the world, Rosa Parks’ action served notice to all states that any
further attempts to oppose a broad interpretation of the 14th Amendment
using Madison’s and Jefferson’s theories would be met with equal
resistance.
Thus, Rosa Parks actions in 1955, one year after Brown, led directly
to Dr. King's immortal words at the Lincoln Memorial on April 28,
1963, eight years later: "I have a dream that one day down
in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his
lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification
– one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls
will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls
as sisters and brothers." Liberals ignore the first part of
that statement and conservatives only quote the second.
As we dedicate this statue, it is important to note that these battles
are the same but many of the names have been changed. Instead of
interposition and nullification, congress uses unfunded mandates
and “302(b) allocations” as a way to describe and support a states
struggle for dominance over the federal government.
What is Rosa Parks' legacy? Yes, her legacy will
look back on a life lived. But it will also look ahead to the unfinished
business of ending discrimination in all of its forms, and toward
building a common law and a more perfect Union for all Americans.
Rosa Parks continues as a living legacy with ongoing implications
for the federal officials we elect, Supreme Court candidates we
nominate and constitutional interpretations that are rendered.
Do we want "strict constructionists" on the Court
who will interpret the Constitution narrowly and limit the role
of the federal government in the name of "states' rights"
and local control? Or do we want courts that reflect a broader interpretation
of common law for all Americans?
The right to vote, to a public education and health care of equal
high quality, to a safe, clean and sustainable environment, to affordable
housing, to equal rights for women, to fair taxation and to employment
are all not explicitly guaranteed in the Constitution and thus are
subject to 10th Amendment limitations – as was most clearly demonstrated
in the Bush v Gore decision of 2000 where Florida's laws took precedence
over an individual American's constitutional right to have their
vote counted.
The bill that President Bush signed into law says
that the Rosa Parks statue will be completed and placed in Statuary
Hall within two years, in 2007, which happens to be the same year
that the 1965 Voting Rights Act must be strengthened and extended.
So wrapped up in the Rosa Parks statue and legacy is an end to any
form of discrimination and a commitment to a common law over states'
rights and local control for major issues of social and economic
justice that allows all Americans to be treated equally and with
dignity.
Parks paved the way, but we still have unfinished business to complete
as a nation. We can still have a new birth of freedom if "we
the people" become reengaged in the struggle to build a more
perfect Union and a government of the people, by the people and
for the people. And if we do, it "shall not perish from the
earth" until the earth itself perishes.
Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) is author of
the remarkable book, A More Perfect Union: Advancing New American Rights. We at BC
gladly endorse it. |
