[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                             [[Page E355]]

                   COMMEMORATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______


                             HON. MIKE WARD

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 15, 1995
  Mr. WARD. Mr. Speaker, in recognition of February as Black History 
Month, a tradition dating back to 1926 when Carter C. Woodson set aside 
1 week in February in order to honor the contributions and achievements 
of African-Americans, I would like to take this opportunity to honor 
the African-American men and women who have contributed so much to my 
hometown of Louisville, KY, our Nation, and to the world.
  In Louisville, there have been many in the African-American community 
who have made invaluable contributions not just to their community, but 
to society as a whole. Judge Janice R. Martin, appointed to the bench 
by Governor Jones in March 1992, is the first African-American woman 
jurist to serve in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Judge Martin brings to 
the court a long history of involvement in many organizations, 
including: the Metro United Way; the Kentucky Women's Leadership; the 
Urban League; Dare to Care; and the Kentucky Task Force on Racial 
Fairness in the courts.
  Dr. Joseph H. McMillan, a professor in the University of Louisville's 
Department of Early and Middle Childhood Education, has contributed 
greatly to educating all Kentuckians on matters of racial tolerance and 
understanding. in 1950, Dr. McMillan began his teaching career in Lake 
County, MI, and later became the first African-American principal in 
the Grand Rapids Public Schools system. Dr. McMillan has been active 
with the Annual National Black Family Conference in America. He has 
also served as chairman of the Louisville/Jefferson County Human 
Relations Commission, president of the Louisville Urban League, and as 
chairman of the Kentucky Rainbow Coalition. Dr. McMillan currently 
serves as a commissioner to the Kentucky State Human Rights Commission 
under Governor Jones.
  Eleanor Forman, one of Louisville's first African-American real 
estate agents, focused her efforts on integrating the Louisville real 
estate market. At the time Ms. Forman entered the real estate 
profession, the white-dominated real estate market, for Ms. Forman, was 
a hostile environment in which to work. Prior to Ms. Forman's work, 
areas of the city were marked as being reserved for white real estate 
agents or African-American real estate agents only. Ms. Forman was also 
recognized as the 1994 Women of Achievement by the Business and 
Professional Women's group.
  Other individuals who, through civic participation and education, 
have strived to ease tensions and empower others to follow their 
example include: Lyman T. Johnson, the first African-American ever to 
graduate from the University of Kentucky, whose case for admittance was 
argued by former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; Ann Elmore, 
who, in 1994, became the first African-American women elected to the 
Jefferson County Board of Education; and Evelyn L. Waldrop, whose work 
with the NAACP, the Urban League, the Public Works Association, and the 
National Council of Negro Women has set the standard for community 
involvement.
  History shows us that as our Nation was struggling for freedom and 
democracy, African-Americans played invaluable roles and contributed 
greatly to our efforts. These contributions have been largely 
overlooked and such recognition is long over due.
  When our Nation was in the midst of a Revolutionary War, African-
Americans, such as Crispus Attucks, who died in the Boston Massacre, 
heeded the call to arms and did so without reservation--these men and 
women served as infantryman, laborers, cooks, and also as part of the 
Minutemen brigade. African-Americans, such as Sgt. William H. Carney, 
who was the first African-American to receive the Congressional Medal 
of Honor for his efforts in the Civil War. Again, in World War I, World 
War II, in Korea, and in Vietnam, African-Americans served their 
country with honor and dedication. The memories of these men and women 
who have served so dutifully must never be forgotten.
  Throughout our history as a nation, African-Americans answered our 
Nation's call to arms; however, in the area of civil rights, it took 
our Nation a longer period of time to answer their calls for justice 
and equality. Throughout the civil rights era of the 1950's and 1960's, 
our Government created roadblocks in the path of equality for African-
Americans. These roadblocks were in the overt form of ``whites only'' 
signs in bus stations, restaurants, theaters, and hotels; in the overt 
form of denying African-Americans the right to vote; in the overt form 
of segregated schools; in the overt form of African-Americans being 
forced to ride in the back of the bus.
  Through such legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which 
prohibited any public establishment from discriminating on the basis of 
race, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we, as a nation, have reached 
a greater level of equality among all people; however, we do have far 
to go in this effort.
  Today, we do not see the overt forms of racism and discrimination 
that we saw in the 1950's and 1960's, rather, we see a more covert form 
of discrimination in the form of glass ceilings in hiring practices and 
a vast disparity between African-Americans and whites in the areas of 
income, education, and crime statistics. We also see this covert 
discrimination in the efforts of many to defeat a minimum wage 
increase. The current minimum wage of $4.25 per hour provides the full-
time worker an annual salary of $8,500, which is less than one-half the 
current poverty line for a family of four. With inflation, the minimum 
wage has decreased almost fifty cents since 1991 and is currently 
three-quarters of what it was in 1979.
  How can we encourage people to get off welfare when we do not provide 
a decent wage for them to live? How can we say that we reward work over 
welfare when we do not provide the means by which an individual can 
achieve this goal.
  Today, it is an honor to pay tribute to these African-Americans, who 
serve as testament to the fact that as a nation we have come far. 
However, I believe that is also appropriate to remind ourselves how 
much further we must go in order to achieve total equality among all in 
our richly diverse society. I hope that we all can make this journey 
together.


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