Lanier Holt, an associate professor who studies the connection between media portrayals and public perceptions of race, among other things, weighed in on Houston’s polarizing new bus seats that are dedicated to the memory of Rosa Parks in a recent Business Insider article.  

While some are in full support of the new bus seats, others consider their implementation “performative activism.”

"If you actually cared about people of color...you should have been doing more for the Black community that disproportionately supports your services than just putting this on a bus," he said in the article. "I see the other side, too, which is that you have to start somewhere."