There is no talking about Rosa Parks without talking about race. That would be like talking about Tiger Woods without golf. Race is so much a part of why Parks is famous that we really can't help but think of racial segregation and the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and '60s in the south. The cool thing about this particular poem and how it deals with race is that it doesn't talk about it outright. Make no mistake: Dove is not shying away from the issue of race, but she knows that the name Rosa Parks is so imbued with the racial struggle of African-Americans that she doesn't have to. All she has to do is title the poem "Rosa" (after Parks) and every line in that poem will be influenced by the racial issues of her day. Dove answers the old saying "What's in a name?" pretty convincingly. What's in Rosa's name? Well, how about everything having to do with African-Americans and race from the 1950s to the present day.
Questions About Race
- Why do you think Rita Dove doesn't mention race explicitly in this poem?
- If there are no outright mentions or race in this poem, are there lines that hint at race relations or racial tensions? Which? Why do you think so?
- If you had no historical background for this poem, would you know it had anything to do with race? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Dove isn't really trying to bring race into the poem. Any interpretation of race is brought in by the reader, and wasn't intended by Dove. So deal with it yourself, okay?
While Dove understands the major race issue that surrounds Rosa Parks historically, in this poem she wants readers to keep race in mind while also being able to hone in on the humanness of this historic hero. How's that for some hefty, happenin'… ah, we ran out of H words.