The threat of violence from groups like the KKK was a constant in Rosa Parks' life, and in 1957, one of her neighbors had their home bombed by the radical organization.
The Rev. Robert and Jeannie Graetz were — alongside the Parks — leaders in the area's civil rights movement. Shockingly, it was the second time their house had been bombed: the first was in 1956, not long after Parks' protest. The Graetzes, says The Birmingham Times, believed they were high on the KKK's hit list because "We raised the ire of the local Klan as soon as we moved to Montgomery, because we are a white couple, and my husband was the minister of an all-black Lutheran congregation," Jeannie later said. "We also chose to live among our flock, and then we publicly supported the desegregation of Montgomery's buses beginning in 1955. Because of those reasons, we were marked targets."
Rosa Parks documented the bombing incident in a letter, which the Graetzes bought at auction years later, and gave to Alabama State University. The details are tragic... and fortunate, in that no one was harmed. The entire Graetz family was home at the time of the explosion, which ripped off the roof, shattered every window, and tore all the doors off their hinges. After the explosion, Rosa and Raymond Parks were on scene, helping them clean up. Arrests were made, but the men were found not guilty.
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