Two Who Made a Difference

Charles Millard, writing for National Review Online, takes note of two people who passed away this week who advanced the cause of human rights.

Rosa Parks died a legend in the fight for civil rights, and rightly so. Her willingness to serve as the personification of the fight against Jim Crow laws in Montgomery, Ala., may seem obvious in retrospect: Who wouldn't want to change history for the better? But keep in mind that this was not some academic, "good government" kind of exercise. Rosa Parks put her life at genuine risk to win the enforcement of some basic human rights.

It is less well known that Wellington Mara, too, fought to protect human rights. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that we are all endowed by our creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — and Mara made a point of defending that fundamental right to life. It is interesting that the lengthy obituaries this week discuss many dimensions of Mara — as Catholic, old-school, and a gentleman — but few so much as mention his dedication to the cause of protecting the lives of the unborn.