Rosa Parks' 3-year-old third cousin meets President Obama - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Rosa Parks' 3-year-old third cousin meets President Obama

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A photo shows Terrell Anderson, Junior with President Obama A photo shows Terrell Anderson, Junior with President Obama
DETROIT (WJBK) -

He is only three years old, but Terrell Anderson, Junior has some big shoes to fill.  This little guy is Rosa Parks' third cousin.

A nine foot, 2,700 pound statue of Parks was unveiled at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday in front of legislators, veteran civil rights leaders and Parks' family, including Terrell and his family, who got to rub elbows with the president.

Terrell's father told us his son asked President Obama whether he lives at The White House.  The president assured him that he does.

"He just shook my hand and said, 'Got a cool kid there,'" said Terrell Anderson, Senior.  "It was just like the president said my kid is cool, so he's always going to be cool now for me."

The bronze statue depicts Parks' seated and holding her purse in her lap signifying when she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama back in 1955.  Some pinpoint her arrest as the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.

"It's an honor, a responsibility," the elder Anderson said about being related to a civil rights icon.  "You don't want to put it out here like I'm related or I'm bigger than someone, but like my son, you want to tell him, hey, you're related to this person and you need to learn about your black history."

"I feel that's my responsibility to teach him that," he added.

Parks died in 2005.  She is the first black woman to be honored with a statue in Capitol's Statuary Hall.

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