Michael Brown Jr. Is No Rosa Parks

December 1, 1955 is a significant day in American history. On this day, a 42 year old black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white person. She was done with the humiliation of Montgomery's segregation laws and could not think of a logical reason why she should go stand in the back of a bus so a white man who got on several stops after she had could have her seat.

At the time, eighty percent of Montgomery's bus riders were black and yet they were only afforded half of the seats. Worse, when whites filled up their half and needed additional seats, blacks were required by law to give up theirs and stand. Rosa Parks refused to be treated differently simply because of her skin color. As a result, she was arrested and four days later convicted of breaking the law.

What followed next was a 381 day boycott of the Montgomery buses by blacks while Rosa and her attorneys appealed her conviction and the constitutionality of the Jim Crow laws that rule the south. In the end, the laws were overturned, although Parks conviction stood, and the Civil Rights movement gained a head of steam that would result in equal rights for all human beings in the United States.

Rosa Parks chose arrest and conviction over further humiliation. She avoided a violent confrontation with the police and allowed them to do their job when arresting her. She relied on our legal system to bring about change for all citizens rather than thumbing her nose at it. This is why Rosa Parks belongs in our history books.

Michael Brown Jr. is no Rosa Parks. While the debate rages on regarding his death from the shooting by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer, Michael Brown Jr. did not die for a cause.

In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Michael's father, Michael Brown Sr., talked about how he had several conversations with his son over how to react when stopped by the police. He may well have had these conversations with his son but they did not sink into young Michael's head. Furthermore, there may have been other conversations that did not stick with him.

For starters, if Michael Jr. mastered his father's teachings on how to respond when stopped by the police, how do you explain the swollen face from the punch or punches thrown by Michael? Why did Michael and his friend, Dorian Johnson, run when instructed to stop? Why did Michael ignore the officer when asked to not walk down the middle of a busy street? Were any of these requests as humiliating as ordering Rosa Parks to give up her bus seat so a white man can sit?

Michael Sr. also was unable to impress upon his son the dangers that go with hanging out with a friend, Dorian Johnson, who has a criminal record. Nor did he succeed in convincing his son why it is wrong to commit strong armed robberies on local shop owners. This is not to suggest Michael Sr. did not do his parental duties in raising his son. However, it does show Michael Jr. was not keen to take dad's advice.

Michael Brown Jr. is not a hero for being killed by a police officer. Time, and evidence will determine whether or not the shooting was justified. However, we do know Michael Brown Jr. was not living a quiet dignified life like Rosa Parks lived. Instead, he was a young man who was playing Russian Roulette with his life. In this way, Michael Brown Jr. is more Rodney King than Rosa Parks, a victim of a string of poor decisions he made that resulted in police intervention.