By Stephen Kinzer
The New York Times
DETROIT, Oct. 16 - Nearly half a century after Rosa Parks helped set off the American civil rights movement by refusing to move to the back of a segregated bus, she is at the center of a swirling legal controversy that her relatives say could forever taint her legacy.
Ms. Parks's relatives have squared off against her lawyer and caretaker over who can best protect her interests. The dispute is especially poignant because Ms. Parks, who is 91, may not even be aware of it. Her doctor recently asserted in a court document that she has dementia and cannot testify or be deposed.
The fight stems in part from litigation that has been filed in her name but that her relatives doubt she knows about. They say her longtime caretaker and confidante, Elaine Steele, and her lawyers are seeking monetary settlements for their own gain.
Ms. Steele is the co-founder of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, which could share in the proceeds from any settlement. She contends that the suits, over a song invoking her name, are meant to protect Ms. Parks's reputation. Her family argues that they trivialize it.
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