[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 135 (Thursday, October 2, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1902-E1903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           A POINT-OF-LIGHT FOR ALL AMERICANS: ETHELINE DUBIN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MAJOR R. OWENS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 30, 1997

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, September 26, 1997, at the 
Brooklyn Society For Ethical Culture, the New York community saluted 
Etheline Dunbar Dubin as a Point-of-Light for her neighborhood, her 
city, and for all human kind. Etheline was a model for numerous other 
unsung heroes and heroines spread across our land. She was one of those 
thousands of citizens who are dedicated enough to work tirelessly 
behind the scenes and never request an ounce of glory or recognition.
  In the early sixties when I first became involved in civil rights and 
political activities, Ms. Dubin was one of my mentors. She seemed to 
know everything about everybody in local public life. She was an 
invaluable civic guidebook for a newcomer from Memphis, TN, treading 
his way through the byzantine politics of New York City.
  Unselfish in her personal life; unselfish with her family; and 
unselfish for the community in many causes, Etheline Dubin was the kind 
of leader who was needed in elected office. But she never threw her hat 
in the ring and announced that she was running for office. Etheline 
Dubin was a Point-of-Light but she never craved high visibility; her 
ego never needed bolstering; she had no great hunger for political 
power.
  She was not a wimp with weak convictions. Etheline Dubin was consumed 
by a passion to do the right thing. From her first civic activities to 
the very end she raged against evil. She was the unsung champion of the 
people on the bottom who had no one else to fight for them. One of the 
last indignant complaints that Etheline registered directly with me was 
a complaint against a candidate who was running for judge: ``That man 
owns two houses that have hundreds of housing code violations. He is 
running for a judgeship but that man is a slum lord.''
  The civic and political history of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brooklyn 
can be written against the backdrop of Etheline Dubin's indignation 
against evil and her feisty willingness to fight for whatever is right. 
Etheline and Marshall Dubin almost instinctively bounded to the right 
side. No one ever had to plead with them to go to the front line in a 
battle for a just cause.
  When Bedford-Stuyvesant decided that it wanted more than one token 
representative in the NY State Assembly, Etheline was there in the 
fight to elect Tom Jones as the first real Bedford Stuyvesant people's 
representative. In the fights against discrimination in employment and 
against discrimination in housing, Etheline was there. In the middle of 
the controversy which erupted when community planning district 
boundaries were drawn, Etheline was there.
  Etheline's long years of work on community planning board eight might 
be described as her anchor achievement in the community. From her base 
on planning board eight her concern for all aspects of community life 
could radiate outward.
  From the battle to keep the Franklin Avenue shuttle running to the 
detailed monitoring of the quality of life near her home on the corner 
of Eastern Parkway and Washington Avenue, Etheline made her presence 
felt. We all enjoy the benefits of a better neighborhood and a better 
Brooklyn as a result of the efforts of Etheline and her partners on 
community planning board eight.
  Etheline Dubin was a solid brick, a golden brick in the foundation of 
what is best about our American democracy. Most of us in decisionmaking 
positions realize that the hope of our system comes from the bottom up. 
It is the integrity and the tenacity of the brothers and sisters who 
are never awarded medals and big prizes; these qualities keep our 
society moving forward.
  President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was shaped by the unrelenting 
demands of the strikers on the picket lines, the demonstrators in the 
streets, the activists in the endless meetings. President Lyndon 
Johnson was moved to push aggressively for voting rights legislation by 
the marchers who were beaten on a bridge in Selma, AL. We still do not 
know the names of the majority of the heroes who fell that morning 
under the clubs, bayonets, and tear gas. Just this past week we have 
witnessed commemorations in Little Rock attended by President Clinton 
to remind us of

[[Page E1903]]

the heroism of nine children and other members of the Little Rock 
African-American community when they braved the threat of mob violence 
to integrate Central High School. Those ordinary people inspired 
President Eisenhower to send troops in to enforce a Supreme Court 
decision.
  Etheline Dubin lived in this tradition of unusing heroes doing what 
had to be done. Now she has departed leaving behind her husband, 
Marshall and two sons: Jonathan and Jason Dubin. Today we do not have 
the resources and the power to erect a statue for Etheline. But the 
memorial service was more than just a moment of reflection, meditation 
and grieving. She is one of our last heroines. We must celebrate our 
heroines and heroes. We must erect monuments in our minds that will 
never crumble. We must let Points-of-Light shine that will never go 
out. We must rededicate our lives to the spirit of unselfish activism 
in memory of Etheline Dubin.

                          ____________________