[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           PAUL CALLENS PROMOTES RACIAL UNITY WITH EVERY STEP

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 1999

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I wish to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues the endeavor of my good friend Paul Callens.
  Paul has gathered several of his friends to join him on a seven-month 
walk for national unity--an 11-state, 3,200-mile journey from 
Maryland's Eastern Shore to the city of San Francisco, to promote 
racial unity throughout the United States.
  Along the way, the Unity Walkers will pass the birth place of 
abolitionist and former slave Harriet Tubman, stop at the site of last 
year's Middle East Peace Talks, and arrive in Washington, D.C. for a 
weekend celebration on the National Mall on Sunday, April 4 to 
commemorate the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr.
  We would like to think that blatant racism is a thing of the past, 
but daily reports of police brutality, church burnings, hate crimes and 
acts of racially-motivated violence shatter the illusion that bigotry 
no longer exists in our country.
  The goal of the walkers and their supporters is to build a national 
unity movement that celebrates the differences among Americans and 
promotes appreciation of the racial and cultural blend that makes up 
the population of the United States. They hope to interest community 
leaders and local government officials in celebrating a National Unity 
Day, to be observed on October 10.
  In these next few months, Paul Callens will ask our communities to 
examine the attitudes we've inherited about race and to reevaluate our 
treatment of racial differences. Some who would promote intolerance and 
irrational prejudice have made an attempt to turn back the clock on the 
progress we've made in the fight for civil rights. Paul and his friends 
will spread the word that hostility based on racial or ethnic identity 
has no place in America.
  Please join me in congratulating Paul and the Unity Walkers and wish 
them success in their effort to heal the wounds of racial intolerance 
in our country. We make progress one step at a tim