Drafting history in black and white


|

In 1955, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her Montgomery, Alabama, bus seat to a white passenger and was arrested.

But you probably haven't heard of her.

Nine months later, Rosa Parks made the same bold gesture and became a national icon. The difference? Colvin's story was covered only by the black press and was blatantly ignored by white newspapers. 

“If journalism is the first rough draft of history, white newspapers were the first to write Colvin out of our nation’s history,” said Professor Matthew Delmont, director of the School for Historical Philosophical and Religious Studies.  

In a new video, Delmont highlights the critical role of "the fighting press," and how that valiant effort laid the groundwork for today's social-media activism. 

 

Top photo: "The Year They Walked," a monument to the Montgomery Bus Boycott at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.

More Law, journalism and politics

 

Person at a podium onstage next to five other seated panelists

Can elections results be counted quickly yet reliably?

Election results that are released as quickly as the public demands but are reliable enough to earn wide acceptance may not always be possible.At least that's what a bipartisan panel of elections…

A group of people on a nature trail walk in Hawaii

Spring break trip to Hawaiʻi provides insight into Indigenous law

A group of Arizona State University law students spent a week in Hawaiʻi for spring break. And while they did take in some of the sites, sounds and tastes of the tropical destination, the trip…

A crowd gathers in a lobby

LA journalists and officials gather to connect and salute fire coverage

Recognition of Los Angeles-area media coverage of the region’s January wildfires was the primary message as hundreds gathered at ASU California Center Broadway for an annual convening of journalists…