Teacher Guide
- Preparation: Print the following articles from the Internet:
- Rosa Parks and History, by Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institute
http://www.townhall.com/print/print_story.php?sid=173033&loc=/opinion/columns/ thomassowell/2005/10/27/173033.html - Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks, 92, Dies, by Bree Fowler,
Associated Press
http://fsnews.findlaw.com/articles/ap/o/632/10-25-2005/c796005c4bd19773.html - (Note: If these links have expired, use a search engine to search by title. You may be able to find free access to the same articles on alternate sites. Additionally, the search engine will lead you to archive sites where you may download the articles for a small fee.)
- Rosa Parks and History, by Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institute
- Copy the articles and student handouts.
Guide to the discussion questions
- The institution governing behavior and race relations in mid-century Montgomery, Alabama, and most of the South was known as Jim Crow. What do you know about the formal and informal "rules of the game" set up by this institution? The formal and informal rules of the game set up by Jim Crow included legal segregation in many areas of social interaction - including public transportation, education, health facilities, etc. Informally, Jim Crow institutionalized "second class" status for black Americans, who were expected to show deference to whites in all areas of racial interaction.
- List the costs and benefits - as Rosa Parks perceived them - of her two alternatives: giving up her seat or staying seated. (Hint: Consider not only the prevailing institution of Jim Crow, but also how Mrs. Parks's values and experiences shaped her perceptions.)
- In general, what anticipated reward motivates the choices of business owners? profit of elected officials? being elected or re-elected so that they can serve. Given these motives, and if there had been no Jim Crow laws, would you have expected transit company owners and Southern politicians to support or oppose segregation, given the large black population of Southern states? Why? Both would have opposed segregation. The business owners would have wanted to attract black customers and avoid the costs imposed by having to provide segregated facilities, and the politicians would have wanted to attract the support of black voters.
- How did Jim Crow laws that disenfranchised black voters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries change the incentives facing politicians and elected officials? Blacks could no longer affect the outcome of elections, so they could safely ignore them. Transit business owners? Businesses could now be fined if they refused to segregate. They had to balance this cost against the cost of upsetting black passengers. Because refusing to take the bus imposed a big cost on black people, the transit companies were influenced more by the possibility of fines.
- Speculate: Sowell's article says that public transportation companies dragged their feet on enforcing segregated seating. How do you think the spread of automobile ownership in mid-century America played into their reluctance? Why? Because average black income was so much lower than white, automobile ownership spread primarily among whites. As more and more white people got cars, the percentage of transit customers that was black increased.
- When segregation laws were passed, what did transit company owners lose and what did politicians gain? Transit companies lost the ability to reduce cost through integration of facilities. Politicians gained the ability to please white racist voters without risking black support.
- Explain in your own words why even a minority of white voters could have gained through the political process what they couldn't gain in the market. As Sowell explains, because many people do not vote, a small, but organized group of voters can affect the outcome of an election - and politicians are well aware of this reality.
- It's important to remember that economic analysis of incentives only helps us to explain behavior; it doesn't allow us to make character judgments. With that in mind, explain how Jim Crow - the formal and informal rules of interaction between the races - could have influenced a racist businessman to support integration and a non-racist politician to oppose it. How did Jim Crow change the opportunity cost of living their values? A racist businessman may decide that the cost of supporting segregation - losing sales to black customers or taking on the added production cost of providing separate facilities, is too large to bear, so he may behave as if he were not a racist. A politician, realizing that he can accomplish none of his goals if he isn't elected or re-elected to office, may decide that pleasing an active group of segregationist voters is worthwhile in order to be elected. For both the businessman and the politician, Jim Crow raised the opportunity cost of living by his values.
- Thomas Sowell states that the resistance by streetcar, bus and railroad owners to abiding by Jim Crow laws was not based on a desire for civil rights for blacks but "on fear of losing money if racial segregation caused black customers to use public transportation less often…" From the article by Bree Fowler find just how much less they used the buses in Montgomery after Rosa refused to give up her seat. (Refer to the Fowler article or students' textbooks re: the boycott of the Montgomery buses by black workers in the wake of Rosa Parks's arrest.)
- Sowell states; "People who decry the fact that businesses are in business 'just to make money' seldom understand the implications of what they are saying. You make money by doing what other people want, not what you want." [emphasis added] Provide examples from your own experience where business people have done what customers want rather than what the owners themselves might have wanted. Examples will vary. Students may report on individuals they know to be unpleasant or nasty, or who dislike teenagers, but who are nonetheless courteous and polite to customers of their businesses. Arguably, examples like these can be used to show that the incentive to please customers has the beneficial effect of promoting civil behavior in society.
| Alternatives | Give Up Seat | Refuse to Move |
|---|---|---|
| Costs | Giving in to continued humiliating
treatment Going against her belief in civil rights Inconvenience and discomfort of having to stand (although note that she said, herself, that this was not her major motivation) |
Possible arrest Harassment from other passengers and driver Physical harm |
| Benefits | Avoid confrontation with
passengers and driver Avoid possibility of arrest Easier in the short run |
Asserting individual
dignity The satisfaction of acting on her beliefs Furthering her civil rights work - if only in the smallest way |
Student Discussion Handout
More Lessons from Rosa Parks: When Self-Interest Trumped Racism
The nation mourns the passing of Rosa Parks, whose dignity and quiet courage made her the image of the 20th century Civil Rights movement. She earned her place in history and in our regard by making a choice - to stay seated on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama, when a white man demanded that she move.
Economics teaches us that people respond to incentives, that their choices can be explained in terms of the rewards and punishments they perceive to be associated with the alternatives they face. We also know that incentives are shaped by the rules of the game - the formal laws and informal norms of the societies in which we live.
Consider what you know about the legal and cultural norms that governed race relations in mid-20th century America. As you read Bree Fowler's tribute, think about the rewards and punishments associated with Mrs. Parks's alternatives - to move or stay seated - on that day in 1955. Try to identify, from her words, the incentives as she perceived them, and be alert to the experiences in her life that shaped her perception of those rewards and punishments.
Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks, 92, Dies, by Bree Fowler, Associated
Press
http://fsnews.findlaw.com/articles/ap/o/632/10-25-2005/c796005c4bd19773.html
- The institution governing behavior and race relations in mid-century Montgomery, Alabama, and most of the South was known as Jim Crow. What do you know about the formal and informal "rules of the game" set up by this institution?
- List the costs and benefits - as Rosa Parks perceived them - of her
two alternatives: giving up her seat or staying seated. (Hint: Consider
not only the prevailing institution of Jim Crow, but also how Mrs. Parks's
values and experiences shaped her perceptions.)
Just as economic analysis allows us to appreciate the incentives associated with the life-changing decision of one woman, it also offers us insight into the incentives that affected larger groups of players in the civil rights drama. Writing in Rosa Parks and History, Thomas Sowell, noted African-American economist, scholar, and columnist, clearly lays out the different incentives that faced public officials and private transit company owners in the era when Rosa Parks lived in Montgomery and rode the bus to work. If your conception of the civil rights movement is that government action forced the private sector to end segregation, get ready to have your thinking challenged as you read:
Rosa Parks and History, by Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institute.
http://www.townhall.com/print/print_story.php?sid=173033&loc=/opinion/columns/thomassowell/2005/10/27/173033.html - In general, what anticipated reward motivates the choices of business owners? of elected officials? Given these motives, and if there had been no Jim Crow laws, would you have expected transit company owners and Southern politicians to support or oppose segregation, given the large black population of Southern states? Why?
- How did Jim Crow laws that disenfranchised black voters in the late 19th and early 20thcenturies, change the incentives facing politicians and elected officials? Transit business owners?
- Speculate: Sowell's article says that public transportation companies dragged their feet on enforcing segregated seating. How do you think the spread of automobile ownership in mid-century America played into their reluctance? Why?
- When segregation laws were passed, what did transit company owners lose and what did politicians gain?
- Explain in your own words why even a minority of white voters could have gained through the political process what they couldn't gain in the market.
- It's important to remember that economic analysis of incentives only helps us to explain behavior; it doesn't allow us to make character judgments. With that in mind, explain how Jim Crow - the formal and informal rules of interaction between the races - could have influenced a racist businessman to support integration and a non-racist politician to oppose it. How did Jim Crow change the opportunity cost of living their values?
- Thomas Sowell states that the resistance by streetcar, bus and railroad owners to abiding by Jim Crow laws was not based on a desire for civil rights for blacks but "on fear of losing money if racial segregation caused black customers to use public transportation less often…" From the article by Bree Fowler find just how much less they used the buses in Montgomery after Rosa refused to give up her seat.
- Sowell states; "People who decry the fact that businesses are in business 'just to make money' seldom understand the implications of what they are saying. You make money by doing what other people want, not what you want." [emphasis added] Provide examples from your own experience where business people have done what customers want rather than what the owners themselves might have wanted.