Lawmakers call for Rosa Parks holiday
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – An effort in Congress to honor Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks could make Dec. 1 a new federal holiday.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus reintroduced their legislation on what would have been Parks' 112th birthday.
'I can think of no greater way to honor her sacrifice, her dedication, her commitment to the furtherance of humanity,' said U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.).
Figures represents Parks' district, where her arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
'Not a single federal holiday honors a woman,' said U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio.).
Beatty said designating Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day would not just be a day off work.
'It's a day to teach, to reflect and to encourage that every child in America knows Rosa Parks,' Beatty said.
Legislation to establish federal holidays has been difficult to pass. In 2021, Juneteenth became the first national holiday approved in the U.S. since Martin Luther King Jr. Day almost 40 years earlier.
Lawmakers said it's even more important to reintroduce this bill during Black History Month because of the Trump administration's efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
'Americans should see these attacks for what they are: an attempt to whitewash our history and devalue the contributions of African Americans,' said U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.).
Sewell points to the U.S. Defense Department's guidance declaring 'identity months dead.' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt credits the end of DEI with higher recruiting in the U.S. military.
'We look forward to seeing those recruitment numbers and those retention numbers skyrocketing over the next four years,' Leavitt said.
However, the White House still recognizes February as Black History Month.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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