[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 179 (Monday, November 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2169-E2170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        EXPLORING RACE RELATIONS

                                 ______


                           HON. LOUIS STOKES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 13, 1995

  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, just recently, on October 26, 1995, the 
Executive Leadership Council and Foundation held its seventh annual 
recognition dinner. The leadership council is an association of 
African-American executives at Fortune 500 companies. I was pleased to 
join council president, Ann M. Fudge, and other members for this 
important celebration. Over the years, the leadership council has 
played a key role in fostering the enhancement of African-Americans in 
senior level positions throughout corporate America.
  One of the highlights of the seventh annual recognition dinner was 
the evening's keynote address which was delivered by Vernon E. Jordan, 
Jr. In addition to serving as honorary cochair for the dinner, Jordan 
is a senior partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, and Feld. He enjoys 
a close association with members of the leadership council and others 
who are committed to diversity in the workplace.
  Mr. Speaker, in his remarks on race relations, Vernon Jordan explored 
the meaning of the Million Man March and the new leadership classes 
which now exist within the black community. Jordan also spoke of 
America's racial divide and cautioned that such a divide threatens our 
progress as a nation. He stated in his speech, ``As long as black and 
white Americans continue to see each other as stereotypes and not as 
people with the same dreams, ambitions, and values, this Nation will be 
frozen with suspicion and hate.'' He urged the audience to work toward 
the beloved community, black and white together.
  Mr. Speaker, Vernon Jordan's speech before the Executive Leadership 
Council and Foundation was insightful and very timely. I am submitting 
for the Record the complete text of his remarks. I hope that my 
colleagues and others throughout the Nation will take a moment to 
consider his commentary on this important issue.

       7th Annual Executive Leadership Council Recognition Dinner

                       (By Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.)

       These are, as the old Chinese curse has it, ``interesting 
     times.'' First came the attacks on affirmative action. Then, 
     the O.J. Simpson verdict. Most recently, the Million Man 
     March.
       Suddenly race relations--which had been invisible--have 
     moved to center stage.
       Suddenly, the idea of a color blind America in which race 
     no longer matters much has been exposed as a fantasy.
       Suddenly, settled notions about the role of race in our 
     lives and in our society have been thrust into a sea of doubt 
     and contradictory feelings.
       This evening, I'd like to do a little thinking out loud 
     about this confused and confusing situation with the members 
     of the Executive Leadership Council.
       Like many others, I'm trying to make some sense of the 
     tremendous events of the past several weeks, and I have to 
     tell you I'm not getting far.
       But I am not alone--just about everything I've heard or 
     read about those events tells me that no one else has, 
     either.
       That may be because events are at odds with the 
     conventional thinking about race by blacks and whites on all 
     points of the political spectrum.
       All Americans must now confront the Kerner commission's 
     warning that we are becoming ``two societies, one black, one 
     white--separate and unequal.''
       And all Americans must be shaken by the strength of 
     intolerance and extremism, and by the threat of retreat into 
     racial isolation.
       So long as black and white Americans continue to see each 
     other as sterotypes and not as people with the same dreams, 
     ambitions, and values, this Nation will be frozen in 
     suspicion and hate.
       Unless people of good will can move swiftly to bridge the 
     racial divide, the short term emotional charge many black 
     Americans felt in recent weeks may turn into increased 
     suffering over the long term.
       For example, the net result of the Simpson trial could be 
     revised criminal laws that compromise the rights of the 
     accused and put more of our young people behind bars.
       And the net result of the march could be that both whites 
     and blacks succumb to the siren song of separatism, and get 
     trapped in the false assumption that the problems of the 
     black community are self-inflicted and only solvable through 
     black spiritual renewal.
       Self-renewal is critical to black progress. But so is a 
     concerted, bi-racial attack on the social and economic causes 
     of black disadvantage and alienation.
       The truth is that we can't solve America's racial problems 
     separately. For at the root of those problems is separation 
     itself. The 

[[Page E 2170]]
     solution lies not in withdrawal but in reaching out.
       But that view is in danger of becoming irrelevant in the 
     wake of a successful march expressly limited to Black men.
       So we need to look at why it happened, and why it was so 
     successful. I do not fully understand it. But I do know that 
     the march reflects something deep and profound that is going 
     on in America today.
       An analogue to the march is the growth of the predominantly 
     white promise keepers movement, which fills stadiums with 
     masses of men affirming their faith and responsibilities.
       There seems to be a yearning for spiritual renewal in 
     America that crosses the racial divide and finds expression 
     movements like the million man march, the promise keepers, 
     and others.
       Are these male-oriented movements reaction to the new role 
     of women in our economic life and the change in family 
     structures?
       Do they derive from economic insecurity driven by vast 
     technological changes that have shattered old certainties and 
     economic relationships?
       When people are caught in the throes of sweeping economic 
     changes beyond their control, and when income inequality 
     shakes their self-image, they often turn to spiritual 
     pursuits and traditional values.
       And where will such movements go from here? Will a 
     withdrawal to spiritual concerns mean abandonment of such 
     public concerns as economic justice and social integration?
       One might understand the march's stress on atonement in 
     that light. What is atonement? Does it presume that it is 
     wrong to pursue the American dream of a little white house 
     with green shutters and a white picket fence. A car in the 
     garage. A TV in the den, beer in the cooler, tuition for the 
     children. Two weeks at the beach and a debt-free estate?
       That question is relevant because most of the marchers were 
     middle class--they were younger, better educated, and more 
     affluent than most Black people.
       Did the march have a political component? The polls found 
     that four out of five marchers were registered to vote. Will 
     they retain their commitment to the political process and 
     intensify it by getting others to register and vote?
       Finally, I have to ask whether the march was just another 
     one of those ``feel-good'' events, where people let off steam 
     and marching substitutes for concrete action to change the 
     root causes of their dilemma.
       Words are no substitute for action. But the march was a 
     form of action--people traveled to the Capital, disrupted 
     their daily lives, pledged to act differently, and behaved 
     with great dignity.
       And yet, the march remains shrouded in ambiguity.
       If I am right in thinking that it reflects something going 
     on in America that transcends race, then we need to figure 
     out what it is and how to use it positively for Black people 
     and the Nation.
       That's a job for the institutions in our community equipped 
     with the researchers and know-how to do it--the joint center, 
     Howard University, and other repositories of Black 
     intellectual prowess. They can help us understand this new, 
     elusive spirit of our times, and help us decide upon a course 
     of action.
       But as we do, we must also understand the roles and 
     functions of the division of labor in our community, 
     especially as they have changed since the 1960's.
       For there are now five distinct new leadership classes that 
     have arisen alongside the traditional ones of Du Bois' 
     ``Talented Tenth,'' such as the Black church, the press, the 
     colleges, and the civil rights groups.
       These new leadership groups include:
       One, Black elected officials, many of whose constituents 
     are White, Hispanic, and Asian.
       Two, managers of predominantly white institutions, ranging 
     from school superintendents and police chiefs, to foundation 
     heads, college presidents and cabinet officers.
       Three, indigenous community leadership, whose local 
     organizations represent welfare families, public housing 
     tenants and other community-based entities, and whose 
     backgrounds are similar to those of their constituents.
       Four, black entrepreneurs who produce goods and services 
     for markets that extend beyond the black community.
       Five, blacks in corporate America, as exemplified by the 
     Executive Leadership Council.
       These new leadership groups all share the experience of 
     negotiating the deep and sometimes treacherous waters of 
     majority institutions. Thus, they are well situated to bring 
     a wider perspective to the issue.
       That perspective is necessary if we are to make progress 
     without being ensnared in futile arguments about self-
     defeating separatism and blind nationalism.
       The new leadership groups can help inoculate us against 
     demagoguery and extremism. They can bring powerful assets 
     such as resources, skills and knowledge of the world beyond 
     the confines of dysfunctional communities. Hopefully they can 
     help answer the question asked in such pain and wonder in the 
     heart of the ghetto--``Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there 
     no physician there?''
       As we assess the march, we should recall the words written 
     many years ago by the great black historian. Carter G. 
     Woodson:
       ``The race needs workers, not leaders,'' Woodson wrote. 
     ``If we can finally succeed in translating the idea of 
     leadership into that of service, we may find it possible to 
     lift the negro to a higher level.
       Perhaps that is the true meaning of the march--the yearning 
     of so many black men to be of service to the community.
       But what about those who were not invited to the march--
     black women, white people, Hispanics, Asians--all of whom 
     must participate in America's renewal and in bridging the gap 
     between the races.
       They must not be ignored, for the gap cannot be closed 
     without them--because the only sane course of action lies 
     within the context of an open, pluralistic, integrated 
     society.
       In ``The Invisible Man,'' Ralph Ellison wrote: ``Our fate 
     is to become one, and yet many. This is not prophecy, but 
     description.''
       We are a long way from that goal, and the path to it is an 
     arduous one. There will be diversions along the route from 
     both white racists and black separatists.
       But it is the only route that leads to the attainable 
     goal--and to a goal worth attaining.
       From time to time, it will be tempting to withdraw from the 
     struggle, to seek solace in the warmth and comfort of one's 
     own community. But in the long run we cannot do the 
     segregationists' work for them by excluding ourselves from 
     our fair portion of the society we helped build. Nor can we 
     allow white institutions such as corporate America to abandon 
     the struggle. We must work toward ``the beloved community,'' 
     black and white together.
       Those are some of the thoughts that come to mind as I've 
     pondered the strange, changing state of race relations today.
       I hope you--the Executive Leadership Council--will partake 
     in the action and the passion of our turbulent times, 
     dedicated to service and to building an open, pluralistic, 
     integrated society.

                          ____________________