Rosa Parks, the black woman whose 1955 protest action in Alabama marked the start of the modern US civil rights movement, has died at the age of 92.
Mrs Parks' refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a bus prompted a mass black boycott of buses, organised by Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr.
She proved that it was not she that was 3/5 of a person (http://www.issues2000.org/askme/15th_amendment.htm)

Rosa Parks article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4373794.stm)

It's sad that she became famous for such a stupid reason but I applaud her courage in her action; racism and other forms of bigotry are stupid.

I didn't realise about the 3/5 of a person and for once I don't think it's the english to blame for that one.

I agree with Darkstrider. It is a pity that all she was known for was one moment of courage, anger, um ... fed-upedness, or whatever else it was, and not for the woman she was for the rest of her life. I don't want to say that what she did wasn't important, but if I'm ever remembered, I want it to be for who I am, not one instance of extreme, even if a good one.
And I don't thing the english were to blame for the 3/5 thing, not unless you include their support of the slavery system, which all of europe and parts of africa encouraged.

I disagree with DS and NOG. One moment of courage, true courage, is a remarkable thing. It is something most people will never feel. Blacks were beaten for such acts of defiance in Alabama at that time. Many black deaths and disappearances were simply ignored by the police (especially if the black had shown disrespect for a white).

A person lives their life to a code of ethics and values -- it is from that code courage is drawn. Courage does not come to someone in a flash -- it is a defining moment of how a person has lived their life. Rosa Parks act of courage was only possible because of the person she was. What was truly remarkable about Rosa Parks is that she lived her entire life with her values and ethics intact.

I am not despairing of her moment of courage but the root cause of that moment racism and bigotry.

Let's face it, Someone had to stand up (or in her case, sit down) for equal rights. She became part of the public face of that struggle. No longer was it just about a Generic Black person, but this woman. As soon as the people began to recognize that Blacks were people too, things began to change.

Right on, T2Bruno!

The 3/5's refers to a clause in the original U.S. constitution which allowed the slave-holding states to count slaves as 3/5 of a person for purposes of census and how many representatives they might be allowed to send to the Congress. This section was rescinded by the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.

Rosa Parks was a heroine.