Date: 2015-02-04
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the leader for allowing me to be a designee for this moment in time. I am also very appreciative for this special time. This is Black History Month. and it is a very special month in the life of African Americans. But if the truth be told. it is a special month in the life of all Americans because Black history is American history. I had the opportunity just a couple of nights ago to appear on the floor with a couple of my colleagues. the Honorable DONALD PAYNE. JR.. from New Jersey and the Honorable ROBIN KELLY from Illinois. They were here to have a Special Order hour. I want to compliment them because that Special Order hour. indeed. dealt with a lot of Black history. They talked about 50 years from Selmawhere we were. where we are now. and where we are headed. They did such a great job that I thought it appropriate to acknowledge the outstanding effort and the fact that a good number of Members were very supportive of what they did. I am honored to also say that we plan to continue that tonight with this Special Order time. and we will talk about Black History Month. but from a slightly different perspective. We are honored to say that this resolution that we have introduced into Congressit was introduced on January 6. 2015this is the ninth time that I have had the pleasure of introducing this resolution. and it has 24 original cosponsors. And I want to thank all of the original cosponsors for being a part of helping this resolution come to the floor for this Special Order time. We are not here for the purpose of passage. but we are here for the purpose of expressing much about Black history and explaining why this resolution is so important. It is important not only to me and the people in my district. which is. quite frankly. one of the most diverse districts in the countryin my district. the ballot is printed in four languages: English. Spanish. Vietnamese. and Chinese. Hence. Black History Month is important to not only the African Americans in my district. but all of the other friends. associates. and constituents that I have in my district. They constantly talk to me about Black History Month. We talked about other aspects of history as well. but tonight we will focus on Black history. It is important to note that this is the 100th anniversary of the organization that promoted and promulgated Black History Month. This organization. the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. founded by the Honorable Carter G. Woodson. is the organization that has carried the torch. the flame of hope for history to be inclusive. and they have done an outstanding job. There was a time that I can remember in my lifetime. in my history book. when there was little mention of the accomplishments of African Americans in history. and in world history. even less. I remember one of my books proclaimed that the reason there was little mention of the nations. the countries in Africa was because they contributed very little to history. Literally. that was the kind of statement that I had to read as a child. Well. I am honored that we have come a long way from a point wherein we were rarely included to a point where we are included. but I think not enough yet. My hope is that at some point in time we wont have a Black History Month. we wont have any type of history month other than history on a daily basis. because at that point in time we will have included all persons and all of the great cultures in this country in the history of our great Nation. Black history does not mean that Black people assume that they are better than anyone else. It just means that they would like to be included in history because they believe that no one else is better than we are. We are all the same. We are all Gods children. and we all bring special talents and special attributes that make this great country the wonderful place that it is. Tonight. in talking about this century of Black life. history. and culture in this. the United States of Americaand we could make it the worldbut lets just talk about the United States since the organization the Association for the Study of African American Life and History was founded in the United Statesthis is the 100th anniversaryI will ask the question and give some examples of why this question is so important. The question that I pose tonight is with reference to the giants that we know about in history. and we stand on the shoulders of giantswe all dothe shoulders of giants. people who have done great things to make it possible for us to have these great opportunities that we have. people who suffered many of the slings and arrows of life so that others could have a better quality of life. Many of them are well known. We stand on the shoulders tonight of giants. The question that I pose is: Whose shoulders do the giants stand on? If we stand on the shoulders of giants. whose shoulders do they stand on? Thurgood Marshall. one of the greatest litigators in the history of the United States of America. won 29 of 32 cases before the Supreme Court. He was a great litigator and went on to become a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. the first African American. a giant. I stand on the shoulders of Thurgood Marshall. A good many people in this Congress stand directly on the shoulders of Thurgood Marshall. in that we are here because of some of the litigation that he won before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. We stand on the shoulders of Thurgood Marshall. On whose shoulders does Thurgood Marshall stand on? Well. the person that probably shaped his legal career more than any other was the honorable Charles Hamilton Houston. Charles Hamilton Houston was a Harvard lawyer. He was a person who was the dean of the law school at Howard University. He was the person who concluded that the Constitution of the United States of America did not condone "separate but equal." the person who is said to have killed Jim Crow. the person who was a part of all of the lawsuits of the civil rights era from 1930 to 1954. including Brown v. Board of Education. the honorable Charles Hamilton Houston. He is the person that cultivated and mentored Thurgood Marshall. Thurgood Marshall came to Howard University after having been a reject at the University of Maryland. He tried to get in. and he could not. In a strange sort of way. it compels me to say: Thank God for the University of Maryland because had they not rejected Thurgood Marshall. he would not have come to Howard University. There is a good likelihood he would not have met Charles Hamilton Houston and. as a result. may not have acquired the intelligence that Charles Hamilton Houston provided a plethora of lawyers about the Constitution as it relates to "separate but equal." It was Thurgood Marshall who became his prize student. Thurgood Marshall. along with Charles Hamilton Houston. became two of the great litigators to bring down Jim Crow. One of the cases that Thurgood Marshall and Charles Hamilton Houston brought before the Maryland Court of Appeals. the one that stands out more than any other. is the case of Murray v. Pearson. In that case. Murray wanted to get into the University of Maryland as well. Isnt it ironic that Thurgood Marshall. who could not get into the institution and who went to Howard University. had the opportunity to become the understudy. if you will. of the honorable Charles Hamilton Houston? Isnt it ironic that the circle comes back to the University of Maryland with one of his first cases after completing law school? Thurgood Marshall was the lead counsel. along with the honorable Charles Hamilton Houston. against the University of Maryland to bring about an opportunity for the use of the doctrine of "separate but equal" being attacked with constitutional provisions. and they were successful. I am proud to know that while Thurgood Marshall is the giant. a Supreme Court Justice. Thurgood Marshall is known far and wide for his legal prowess. He stood on the shoulders of an even greater giant. an unsung hero to some extent. Well. now. we do know much more about Charles Hamilton Houston than previously in previous years. It is important to note that he is not the person who has received all of the glory. all of the platitudes. and all of the accolades that Thurgood Marshall received. but he was the architect. I am proud to say that Thurgood Marshall stood on the shoulders of a giant. Lets go on. Lets talk now about another giant of the civil rightshuman rights movement. and that was Rosa Parks. Everyone knows the storymost everyone doesabout how Rosa Parks decided that she was going to take her seat. Rosa Parks was a giant. She decided to take a seat in what was. at that time. a racist Southern town. The story is told that Rosa Parks was tired and that she just had to take her seat because she was tirednot true my friends. not true. Rosa Parks was an officer in the local NAACP. Rosa Parks was a person with great standing and credibility in her community. Rosa Parks had stature. Rosa Parks had the backing of the NAACP. Rosa Parks had people who could get her out of jail. She had people who could work with her and help to stage. if you will. in the minds of some. this moment in time when she literally decided that she was not going to move back nor stand up so that her seat could be held and had by a person of a different hue. It was a bold thing to do. It was a very bold thing to do in the South. the segregated South at that time. the segregated South where the Constitution accorded us all of the rights of other citizens. but our friends and neighbors denied us those rights that the Constitution accorded us. This was the segregated South. and this was Rosa Parks. She decided to take that seat. backed by the NAACP and backed by a host of persons who were prepared to work with her and support her. The truth be told. the honorable Rosa Parks. who is considered by many the .mother of the civil rights movement." the honorable Rosa Parks stands and stood at that time on the shoulders of a giant. She stood on the shoulders of a giant that we rarely hear about and rarely read about. It is the story of a giant who was but 15 years of age at the time she made her mark. if you will. in history. It is the story of a giant who was arrested 9 months before Rosa Parks for doing the same thing that Rosa Park did. She was a 15yearold girl. Claudette Colvin. She was the first person arrested under the circumstances comparable to Rosa Parks in Montgomery. Alabama. She went to jail. Little is known about her. Little is known because it was thought at the time that she was not the ideal person around which to rally. It was thought at the time that a more senior person was needed. a person who had greater standing in the community. She was not that person. Ah. but here is where historyhistorytells the story. She was one of four people to file the lawsuitthe lawsuitthat ultimately ended segregation of the bus line in Montgomery. Alabama. Although Rosa Parks. Dr. King. and the multitudes marched and protested. they marched and they protested for approximately a year or more. it was not the march or protest that actually brought about the ending of this form of invidious discrimination. It was really the lawsuit. Browder v. Gayle. It is important to note that there were four plaintiffs in the lawsuit and that Claudette Colvin was one of those four plaintiffs. It was that lawsuit that made the difference in the lives of not only those people in Montgomery. but people across the length and breadth of this country because that was one of the first times that the opinion expressed in Brown v. Board of Education was expanded to include public transportation. That was an important. significant event in history. It was Rosa Parks who received a lot of the credit. I love her. and I think she deserves all the credit she received. but I also think there are these unsung heroes and heroines who have not received their fair share of credit for what they too have done. In fact. they are the shoulders that giants stand on. Claudette Colvin is the giant on whose shoulders Rosa Parks stood on. Moving to another giant. we all know of Dr. King. and last week and earlier this week. we talked a lot about Selma. and we talked about the march that took place there. In talking about that march. we talked about how people assembled at a church. and they decided that they were going to march peacefully from Selma to Montgomery. As they proceeded to march. they came to a turning point in history. They came to one of those seminal moments in history that will forever define the life of a country. to be quite candid. They came to the Edmund Pettus Bridge. and they confronted the constabulary on the other side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. If you have not gone to the Edmond Pettus Bridge. you should go and see the Edmund Pettus Bridge. If you understand the times that these persons were living in. you have to realize that these were some brave. courageous. and bold souls to be willing to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. knowing that the constabulary was on the other side with clubs and on horses. You have to ask yourself candidly: Would you have confronted what you knew was waiting for you in the form of possible death on the Edmond Pettus Bridge? The Honorable JOHN LEWIS indicates that he thought he was going to die that day because. when confronted by the constabulary with these clubs. they beat the marchers all the way back to the church. If you see the movie "Selma." you can get a fair depiction and representation of what happened on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. There will be another march this year across the Edmond Pettus Bridge. For those who are interested. I am Congressman AL GREEN. You can call my office. and we will tell you about it. You might want to join us. Lets talk about the Edmond Pettus Bridge and this march. Dr. King was not there for Bloody Sunday. There were reasons that compelled him to do some other things in his life. There were other persons there. The Honorable JOHN LEWIS was one of them. In a sense. when Dr. King came backor he came to Selma following Bloody Sunday to march. he was standing on the shoulders of those who had already gone before him and confronted this constabulary. Lets really take a closer look at the historyat the history that we rarely talk about and hear about as it relates to the Edmund Pettus Bridge because there is a person that I conclude is the greatest unsung hero of the civil rights movement who had a hidden hand in the march from Selma to Montgomery. When they went back to make the final march with Dr. King. as they moved across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. they had a hidden hand that had signed a court order. That court order was signed by the Honorable Frank M. Johnson. a Republican appointee to a Federal court. appointed by the Honorable President Dwight Eisenhower. Frank M. Johnson signed the order clearing the way for them to march from Selma to Montgomery. And it is interesting to note that he was a contemporary of George Wallace. In fact. they were classmates. He and George Wallace had a constant confrontation. a mild form of confrontation. sometimes it got a little bit more than mild. but they continually battled each other. Frank M. Johnson was so much of an impact on the times that he had to be guarded 24 hours a day. He was a Federal judge unlike any other. In fact. Dr. King said he put the justice in the word "justice." the Honorable Frank M. Johnson. So the question becomes. on whose shoulders did Dr. King stand on that day when they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge? On whose shoulders did the marchers stand on? They stood on the shoulders of a hidden hand of the civil rights movement. the Honorable Frank M. Johnson. Frank M. Johnson integrated schools. he integrated the jury system. He changed the face of the South. and so little is known about this giant on the shoulders of whom many of the great icons of the civil rights movement stood on that day. This is not to demean or diminishobviously. we cantthe role of Dr. King and the Honorable JOHN LEWIS. this is simply to say there are others whose stories are not told enough. whose stories should be told more. And on an occasion like this when we want to celebrate Black history. I think we have to acknowledge that there were unsung heroes and heroines on whose shoulders many of the giants stood on. And we also have to acknowledge that many of these unsung heroes and heroines are not of African ancestry. You see. there really is a White side to Black history. Frank M. Johnson is a part of this White side of Black history. But we also must know that Frank M. Johnson. the great hero that he was. is not in the history that we speak of. is not celebrated to the extent that he should be. So tonight. I want to say to the family and friends. relatives. those who knew him. we celebrate him tonight. We celebrate the Honorable Charles Hamilton Houston tonight. We celebrate the Honorable Claudette Colvin tonight. These are persons who were in the shadows but who made a difference. and giants stood on their shoulders. Now to close. Lets go back to the Edmund Pettus Bridge because a significant thing occurred. At the Edmund Pettus Bridge when they marched across. at that time there were five African Americans in Congress. there were four Latino Americans in Congress. Hispanic Americans. and there were three Asian Pacific Islanders in Congress. Now. rather than five African Americans. we have 48. Rather than four Hispanic Members. we have 38. Rather than three Asian Pacific Americans. we have 14. I would also note that there were 14 females in Congress at that time. We now have Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge provided the world an opportunity to see the horrors of invidious discrimination. of onerous segregation. the horrors that people. decent Godfearing human beings in the South. had to suffer. And it provided the President of the United States. the Honorable President from the State of Texas. Lyndon Johnson. the opportunity to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1965. That Civil Rights Act is in no small part why I happen to stand before you in the Congress of the United States of America. I stand on the shoulders of many giants. Many of them are known to us. but there are a good many of them who are not known to us. and I am proud to say that during this time of Black History Month. it is appropriate for us to acknowledge them and celebrate them for what they have done to make it possible for many of us to have the opportunities that we have. And today. as we look back and we revisit the Special Order hour. 50 Years Ago From Selma: Where Are We and Where Are We Headed?." I must tell you. in concluding. that we are headed back to the future. We are headed back to the future because the Civil Rights Act of 1965. which accorded us the many opportunities that we have today. that Civil Rights Act of 1965. section 4 of it has been eviscerated. And as a result of the evisceration of section 4. we have seen. unfortunately. section 5 of the act lose its potency because without section 4. you dont have a section 5. Section 5 has been emasculated. section 4 eviscerated. section 5 emasculated. Section 5 is there. but it does not have the coverage areas that it is to address. And so without section 5. we find ourselves back to a point in time wherein we will have to again relitigate the whole question of the right to vote. to a certain extentvery limitedbut also in this context the means by which we were able to secure many of the seats in Congress that the 48 Members presently enjoy. So without that section 5. an effective. potent section 5. we find ourselves with a circumstance where we are looking back now to that future. that future that is going to require us to do some heavy lifting to reinstate section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. And. as they marched once before. we will march once again this year. My hope is that we will be able to in this Congress come to a bipartisan conclusion that section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is still important to a good many people. and that we will work together to revitalize section 4 of the Voting Rights Act so as to give section 5 the potency it needs to provide the coverage that has been of great benefit to us. Mr. Speaker. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to share these thoughts at this moment in time about some of the great heroes and heroines and some of the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement. I thank you. and I thank the leadership for allowing us this time to celebrate Black History Month in these. the great United States of America. God bless you. and God bless our great country. I yield back the balance of my time.