[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 116 (Friday, September 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1671-E1672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RECOGNIZING FRED GRAY: A CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LOUIS STOKES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 5, 1997

  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I recently received a letter from a good 
friend, Mr. Charlie Black. In his letter, Charlie reminded me about the 
life and contributions of an extremely dedicated and talented civil 
rights attorney, Fred D. Gray.
  When people pause to reflect on the civil rights movement, many 
remember the contributions of people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther 
King, Jr. But few realize the contributions of countless others, who 
were, and continue to be, instrumental in the movement for racial 
justice and equality.
  Fred Gray is one of these figures. Throughout his life, Mr. Gray has 
always taken an active role in the advancement of the civil rights 
movement. Of his many notable contributions, some may remember the work 
of Fred Gray when he served as council for Rosa Parks. As her attorney, 
Gray helped Parks defend her right to sit where she wanted to on a 
publicly segregated Alabama bus.
  Still others may remember meeting attorney Fred Gray when they met 
the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gray was present when Reverend 
King, then a young man, was chosen to lead civil rights initiatives in 
Alabama. Later, he served as council for both King and Dr. Ralph 
Abernathy.
  During his lifetime, Fred Gray consistently sought to right the 
wrongs of society. When America continued to maintain the notion that 
``separate but equal'' was fair and just, Fred Gray fought to prove 
that segregation was inherently wrong. He traveled around the country 
representing school children who needed the assistance of a skilled 
lawyer, and sometimes a few soldiers, to take advantage of the same 
educational opportunities enjoyed by white school children.
  At a time when the voting power of African-Americans was being 
diluted due to the gerrymandering of voting districts, Fred Gray fought 
to prevent racially motivated realignment of municipal boundaries. His 
fight would take him all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he 
argued the famous Gomillion versus Lightfoot case.
  The critical feature of the Gomillion case is that it established, in 
the words of the Supreme Court, that ``even the broad power of a state 
to fix the boundaries of its municipalities is limited by the Fifteenth 
Amendment, which forbids a state to deprive any citizen of the right to 
vote because of [their] race.'' Therefore, the Gomillion case set a 
precedent for all others, and not only a affected the State of Alabama, 
but also every State in the Union. Essentially, the case protected the 
rights and effectiveness of African-American voters.
  Further, Fred Gray actively participated in overcoming other 
significant challenges facing African-Americans. He was an integral 
component of the civil rights movement, fighting courtroom battles that 
would impact the lives of all African-Americans. Such a battle 
manifested itself in the form of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study case in 
the summer of 1973.

  From 1932 to 1972, the Government unethically studied the effects of 
untreated syphilis on African-American males in Tuskegee, AL. In July 
1972, the New York Times exposed the study, which subsequently was 
halted by Federal order. However, the damage was already done.
  The Government had used 399 black men as guinea pigs in order to 
study the effects of syphilis. The men did not know they were infected, 
nor did they realize that the treatment which could have cured them was 
intentionally withheld. When the men from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study 
needed an attorney, they went to Fred Gray. Gray brought the case to 
trial and eventually gained a $9 million settlement for the survivors 
and their families.
  Moreover, the Tuskegee case changed research practices on human 
subjects in the United States. As a direct consequence of Fred Gray's 
efforts, the National Research Act was signed into law in 1974. The act 
created the national Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of 
Biomedical Behavioral Research. From this, basic principles of research 
conduct were established and the informed consent of those 
participating in federally funded research was made a requirement.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I remember and share the 
life of Fred Gray. Mr. Gray is an outstanding man who remains active in 
his church, his community, and the law. Currently, Fred Gray works with 
his two sons and acts as managing partner of the Tuskegee law firm 
Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray & Nathanson. In addition, he is 
also involved in facing new challenges

[[Page E1672]]

which threaten the accomplishments of the civil rights movement. I 
encourage my colleagues and everyone across the Nation to learn more 
about this attorney who spent his life fighting for equality in 
America.

                          ____________________