Rosa Parks - can someone sanity check me?

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Not a goady post; I just genuinely don't want to be a topic of a thread later on the weekend about use of inappropriate or incorrect language/terminology when the children take their books home.

Involved in a voluntary activity on the weekend which will touch on America. It's aimed at KS1 and I've used the following phrase in a workbook:

"Rosa Parks was a very brave American who fought for black people to have better lives"

Is the language / phrasing appropriate? Cheers

African Americans rather than blacks.

There are lots of age appropriate resources online if you search Rosa Parks KS1.

Apologies, I skimread and thought you'd said blacks. I'd still use African Americans, or persons of colour.

I thought she just refused to move, and had not intended to cause major change ...

I wouldn’t use the word fought.

Rosa Parks was an American activist who bravely stood up for black people to have better lives"

Are these British or American children?

At the time of her arrest she was the secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACPA (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

No she definitely intended to have a political impact mummmy, she was part of a well-co-ordinated civil rights group. (For the avoidance of doubt, that is not a criticism).

Thanks @NoBaggyPants

NatGeo Kids uses African American and black people in equal measure throughout their page. I think I'll switch to African American.

Thanks for commenting, appreciate it

@mummy2017 - I believe she was involved in the NAACP for many years after the initial event?

We're in the UK

@soola - "Stood Up" - great accessible phrase. Cheers

Thanks everyone!

@mummmy2017
She planned it. She had the backing of the civil rights movement. It was all planned and they fully intended it to be a spark; had the press etc all ready.

Claudette Colvin was actually the first woman to refuse to move seats. She was 15 and refused to give up her seat. She was arrested and all the rest of it, but it didn't get the same attention. She was poor and not well spoken, she didn't have 5he same backing. It did get picked up by media etc, but its not the name people remember. Rosa Parks was well spoken and they thought she'd make a better face of the issue.
Claudette is also still alive.

Have you got time to play them the Horrible Histories song?
www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/horrible-histories-song-rosa-parks-sat-on-a-bus#comments

She did it intentionally and one of the reasons America achieved the civil rights bill (see also Emmett Till but be prepared for some horrific photos).

I am also in UK and studied American History last year and we used both the terms black and African American.

Watch it on TV.. should have checked facts .. sorry guys.

She was also chief investigator of sexual violence against black women for the NAACP and one of the founders of the Committee For Equal Justice, designed to fight for the rights of black women against sexual assault and rape, all before the bus boycott.

The Emmett Till case was one of the triggers for the bus boycott, she'd been to a meeting discussing the case where they learned of the acquittals and she'd had enough and made a deliberate choice to take a stand. In her own words-

"I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen."

I think Black people is fine or you could say Black Americans. Not all ‘Black’ people would describe themselves as of African origin, so it’s a bit more inclusive.

I thought “people of colour” was unacceptable. Happy to be corrected.

The Horrible Histories song makes me cry.

I'd probably say something like:

"Rosa Parks was a very brave woman who stood up for the rights of black people in the USA."

Although she did the opposite of stand up I suppose.

People of colour refers to anyone not white. Started being used in America but is now used all over. However, if you're specifically talking about black people then say black people or African American. People of colour could include Latino, Asian etc etc.

I would add something that she did her work with many others for Black people to have better lives. I don't think at KS1 it's needed to say that she was secretary of the NAACP or go into a lot of detail, but I think it's important at a young age that the fact she and most of these activists worked purposefully in groups - not sole heroes - is an important thing to spread on.

There was actually a lot of work between the American activists and British activists around this time period, and the work in the Montgomery Bus Boycott inspired the Bristol Bus Boycott in 1963 and other actions by civil rights in the UK (which, sadly I find, there is too little attention on). Being in the UK, it would probably be good to make that connection between her actions and events here.

So, trying to be neat and KS1-friendly: "Rosa Parks worked hard with many others for Black people to have better lives. Her work in the US helped inspire the Bristol Bus Boycott and other actions for more fairness in the UK".

People of colour refers to anyone not white.

mainly because all other words had been turned into vile insults over time - as POC is starting to be now by the racists in the US.

Claudette Colvin is a good role model for children.

You should also point out the rarely quoted fact that on the day of her protest she had actually been sitting in the assigned seating for "coloureds" towards the back of the bus. It was only when the bus started to fill up that the driver came down the aisle and moved the "Whites Only" sign further down the bus - which would have forced her to give up the seat she had paid for to a white man.

A meek and humble woman possessed of a will of steel whose one small act of quiet and dignified protest sparked a revolution

Claudette Colvin was asked to move for the same reason. The bus was full and they wanted her seat for a white person.

They are both great role models. Rosa Parks was so much more than this one act; she was fantastic. But so was Claudette and barely anyone knows her name.