Drafting history in black and white
"The Year They Walked," a monument to the Montgomery Bus Boycott at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.
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.
More Law, journalism and politics
ASU Law’s latest initiative aims to prepare future lawyers for the AI era
Arizona State University is at the forefront of AI education, and that goes for all disciplines.According to a 2024 American Bar Association survey, ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law was…
Former Tennessee senator shares lessons from decades in public service
Through his decades of public service, one might expect former U.S. Senator of Tennessee Lamar Alexander to offer complicated guidance on what makes a successful and long-lived career. But his…
ASU alumnus is university's first Samvid Scholar
Nathaniel Ross was in Laos when he received the news that he wouldn’t need to worry about how to pay for Yale Law School.“I was shocked,” said Ross, who was in that country doing professional work…