[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E200-E202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARK E. SOUDER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 14, 2001

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, last evening I was unavoidably detained--
specifically, two consecutive flights from Fort Wayne were grounded 
because of mechanical problems--and missed the votes congratulating 
President Sharon of Israel and guaranteeing a lock box on Social 
Security and Medicare funds. Had I been here, I would have supported 
both bills.
  The problems in the Middle East are longstanding. I had the 
opportunity to meet President Sharon on several occasions. He is a 
tough but fair man. Israel, constantly pressed by those who challenge 
its right to exist, needs a strong leader at this time. We stand behind 
one as he faces the difficult times ahead.
  I would also like to insert the following articles about the late 
Reverend Joseph White into the Congressional Record.
  Reverend Jesse White was my friend. He was a friend to thousands and 
thousands of people.
  He was a friend even to many he did not know because through his 
pioneering efforts he advanced the basic civil rights of many who may 
have been deprived of such rights without his efforts.
  Not too many of us can look back and truly say we were a prophet. Dr. 
White was a prophet. He, and other pioneers in civil rights, had dreams 
that are now becoming reality.
  Complete justice has not been achieved. But without Dr. White there 
would be less justice.
  Not only does he leave behind a history, through his family, his 
legacy lives on. His sons carry on his ministry in different ways. His 
daughter has been active in government and in promoting education 
training and opportunities.
  We will miss Dr. White's leadership in Fort Wayne and his national 
influence as well.

                      Rev. White Demanded Equality

       If the civil rights movement over the last half-century was 
     embodied in any single

[[Page E201]]

     Fort Wayne resident, surely it was the Rev. Jesse White, 73, 
     who died Monday.
       Tall, with a linebacker's physique and a booming baritone 
     voice that was equally effective in soft conversation as a in 
     delivering a sermon or demanding justice, the pastor of True 
     Love Baptist Church had the rare ability to cut an imposing 
     yet approachable presence in any room he entered.
       Parishioners, friends and public officials will remember 
     the Rev. White as much for his compassion in helping and 
     serving people as in his passion for fighting for civil 
     rights. For instance, one of his longtime friends, former 
     City Councilman Charles B. Redd, remembers White as the civil 
     rights leader who charged into a closed Fort Wayne Community 
     Schools board meeting. But he also remembers the minister who 
     would open his wallet to people in need, a caring pastor who 
     ordered a youth caught looting a parishioner's car be taken 
     not to jail but to the front of the congregation, where he 
     prayed with the youth and asked the congregation to grant 
     forgiveness.
       His commanding presence and eloquence in giving voice to 
     the wrongs of racism through a number of lenses--religion, 
     the Constitution, economics, personally--made him a natural 
     leader. He protested segregated Fort Wayne restaurants in the 
     1950s and 1960s. It was the Rev. White who helped direct a 
     black boycott of Fort Wayne Community Schools in 1969, 
     applying as much pressure on other black ministers to urge 
     their congregations to participate as on the white leaders of 
     the school system.
       The Rev. White chose his battles wisely, a natural ability 
     borne from the heart and soul, not public relations concerns, 
     self-interests or pressure from others. ``He was the kind of 
     person who would do his own assessment, whether it was right 
     or wrong, whether it was justice or injustice,'' Redd said.
       Though the kept his long, signature sidebars long after 
     they had become passe in a fashion sense, the Rev. White's 
     approach changed along with the times. As the leader of the 
     local Operation Breadbasket in the early 1980s, White set 
     about to address the economic legacy of racism, leading 
     boycotts--and negotiations--with national department store 
     and grocery chains, urging them to hire more blacks at their 
     Fort Wayne outlets. By the 1990s, White concentrated on 
     helping the economically disadvantaged people in his own 
     southeast neighborhoods, opening the 30-unit True Love Manor 
     for senior citizen housing and the 52-unit Adams and Bruce 
     Housing for people with disabilities. True Love's computer 
     learning center helped more than 1,500 students ages 6 to 86 
     learn and upgrade their computer skills.
       Through his ministry, his leadership in civil rights and 
     his personal compassion, the Rev. Jesse White enriched his 
     church, his neighborhood and Fort Wayne as a whole. He will 
     be truly missed.

                                  ____
                                  

                  Fighter for Justice Changed the City

                            (By Frank Gray)

       When NAACP President Michael Latham heard last month that 
     the Rev. Jesse White was ill, he went to his house 
     immediately.
       ``I'm in tears, and he's still Dr. White,'' Latham said. 
     ``He never changed.''
       A week ago, White was still teaching at True Love Baptist 
     Church, treating the disease that would quickly kill him as 
     just something else to deal with.
       Even on Saturday, as he lay in the hospital, unable to 
     respond when Latham asked him whether he was OK, White 
     signaled with his-hand that everything was all right.
       ``He was full of life, not afraid of death,'' Latham said.
       That's what White was like, unafraid of any showdown. He 
     was used to them. In his 45 years in Fort Wayne, he'd had 
     plenty, with companies, schools, even his own church at one 
     point.
       ``Rev. White realized that things weren't going to change 
     if someone didn't take action, so he led the march, he made 
     the pronouncements that things were unfair,'' said Charles 
     Redd, a former City Council member who had worked with White 
     for decades.
       ``This community should be grateful,'' said the Rev. Temae 
     Jordan. ``We're enjoying the benefit of the struggles he took 
     on.''
       Sometimes it was fun. White would occasionally have lunch 
     with Redd at the Chamber of Commerce so plenty of people 
     would see them and wonder what they were planning, Redd said. 
     In reality, most of their serious discussions of strategy 
     took place while bowling, he said.
       Sometimes it was tense and serious.
       When a local manufacturing company fired a handful of black 
     workers for minor infractions several years ago. White 
     thought the firings looked like a setup. he supported the 
     fired workers as they picketed the company. He took their 
     case to the top of the company. The business was afraid of 
     repercussions from white workers if the fired workers were 
     rehired, Redd said, but White created enough pressure that 
     the men were reinstated.
       Arguing that people without economic power have no power at 
     all, White spearheaded boycotts of groceries and department 
     stores to pressure them to hire more minority employees, and 
     won.
       His best-known boycott sowed seeds that are still growing 
     today.
       In 1969, White, along with officials in the Urban League 
     and NAACP, protested that Fort Wayne schools were segregated. 
     They presented solutions to the school board.
       They were quickly rejected.
       So White helped lead a boycott of Fort Wayne Community 
     Schools. His and other churches established freedom schools 
     and announced that black students would refuse to attend 
     classes in the Fort Wayne schools.
       Ninety-five percent of black students honored the boycott. 
     Photos showed classrooms empty or with only one or two 
     students.
       Within days, the state took the side of the boycotters, 
     forbidding the Fort Wayne district to build new schools or 
     make additions to existing buildings.
       It took two years, but a plan to eliminate segregation was 
     approved, and the first magnet school, which draws students 
     from across the district, was established.
       The magnet school concept, long since expanded after later 
     lawsuits, was first presented a generation ago by a group 
     that included White.
       White was one of a dwindling group, a man who took to the 
     streets to call attention to things he didn't consider just.
       In that sense he was a product of his time. He arrived in 
     Fort Wayne at a time when the media didn't show up when a 
     black man wasn't allowed to get on a bus. They only showed up 
     when someone protested and boycotted. So that is what White 
     did.
       That had changed in the last 10 years or so for two 
     reasons.
       Times themselves had changed, Jordan said. Also, ``When 
     you're out on the front line, you see issues, but as you get 
     older you realize that your greatest calling is to be a 
     shepherd.''
       Until late last week, that was where the Rev. Jesse White 
     could be found, shepherding people at the church he founded, 
     though he knew he was also staring death in the face.

                                  ____
                                  

                       [From the Journal Gazette]

               Rights Activist Jesse White dead at Age 73

                           (By David Gilner)

       Nearly paralyzed by the brain tumor that would take his 
     life three days later, the Rev. Jesse White insisted on 
     leading a funeral service Friday for a parishioner he had 
     baptized.
       Three mem physically supported the Rev. White, one of Fort 
     Wayne's most renowned civil rights leaders, as he warned the 
     audience about life's fleeting nature.
       ``Don't waste your time, young people, for time is a 
     master,'' his daughter, Rhonda White, recalled him saying. 
     ``Once a second or a minute or a day goes by, you can not 
     grab it back.''
       The Rev, White 73, knew how prophetic his words would be.
       About 2 a.m. Saturday, the pastor was admitted to Lutheran 
     Hospital, where he died at 2:30 a.m. Monday.
       City officials and civic leaders throughout Fort Wayne 
     mourned the loss of a man who spent more than half a century 
     fighting racism.
       Glynn Hines, Fort Wayne City Council's only black member, 
     said the Rev. White was an icon of activism, who lived by the 
     seize-the-day philosophy he promoted with his final sermon.
       ``'That's his spirit of can-do, and I think he instilled 
     that on many young people who came through his 
     congregation,'' said Hines, who was baptized by the Rev. 
     White in 1962.
       A potent speaker and powerful singer, the Rev. White was a 
     key member of Fort Wayne's ``old guard'' civil rights leaders 
     who organized marches and boycotts to raise awareness of 
     inequality.
       Even in recent years, his thick glasses and thicker white 
     sideburns could be spotted at rallies against crime on the 
     city's southeast side.
       ``He may have been pleased with the inches of progress, but 
     he was looking for miles,'' Hines said. ``He always used to 
     say, `You'll know there's not a need to fight when there's 
     not a need to fight.' ''
       The Rev. White was born in Natchez, Miss., in 1927. 
     Traveling with a group of gospel singers, he first came to 
     Fort Wayne in 1953. The next year, he made the city his home.
       He became pastor of Progressive Baptist Church in 1955 and 
     married Ionie Grace England in 1956. They had nine children.
       In 1969, segregation sparked him to help lead a high-
     profile boycott against Fort Wayne Community Schools. He 
     marched nationally and at home to raise awareness of 
     discriminatory hiring at banks, super-markets and retailers. 
     He became a confidant of Jesse Jackson, whose presidential 
     campaigns the Rev. White helped coordinate in 1984 and 1988.
       Progressive Baptist grew under the Rev. White's leadership, 
     becoming Greater Progressive Baptist Church after moving into 
     its seventh home in 1972. A power struggle and allegations of 
     financial impropriety led the Rev. White to resign from 
     Greater Progressive and found True Love Baptist Church in 
     1974.
       Both churches became major players on Fort Wayne's civil 
     rights front. Any friction between the two was forgotten, 
     said Greater Progressive Pastor Ternae Jordan.
       Jordan became pastor 16 years after the Rev. White's 
     resignation, and he was excited about the chance to work 
     alongside the Rev. White.
       ``There was no animosity between Dr. White and myself,'' 
     Jordan said. ``I knew the name of Jesse White before I even 
     came to Fort Wayne. I grew up in the home of a minister, and 
     Jesse White was a household name

[[Page E202]]

     in African-American homes across the country.''
       The Rev. White became president of the local Council of 
     Civic Action, brought Operation Bread-basket to Fort Wayne 
     and was president of the local chapter of Jackson's Operation 
     P.U.S.H.
       His first wife died in 1993, and he married Vanessa Atkins 
     in 1995.
       Funderal services will be 10 a.m. Saturday at True Love 
     Baptist Church, 715 E. Wallace St. Calling will be 9 a.m. to 
     4 p.m. Friday at Calvary Temple Worship Center, 1400 W. 
     Washington Center Road.
       A memorial service will be 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. He will be 
     buried in Lindenwood Cemetery.

                                  ____
                                  

       Rev. Jesse White Remembered as ``Drum Major for Justice''

                           (By Kevin Kilbane)

       The Rev. Michael Latham remembers the phone calls.
       When Latham first became a pastor 12 years ago, the Rev. 
     Jesse White would call once a week to see how the younger man 
     was doing.
       At least once a month, White would call on Sunday morning 
     to encourage Latham before the young man went off to lead 
     Renaissance Missionary Baptist Church in worship. White, the 
     pastor of True Love Baptist Church, always ended the 
     conversation with the words, ``Preach good.''
       ``He was my mentor,'' Latham said of White, 73, who died 
     Monday after a short illness.
       During nearly 50 years of ministry in Fort Wayne, friends 
     and White showed the same concern for other young pastors, 
     people in need and those facing racial discrimination.
       ``I guess you could call him a drum major for justice,'' 
     said Hana Stith, chairwoman of the African/African-American 
     Historical Museum. ``He really was.''
       The funeral service for White will be 10 a.m. Saturday at 
     True Love Baptist, 715 E. Wallace St. Calling will be 9 a.m.-
     4 p.m. Friday at Calvary Temple Worship Center, 1400 W. 
     Washington Center Road. A memorial service will follow from 5 
     to 8 p.m.
       White, who moved to Fort Wayne in the early 1950s, first 
     made an impact locally during the civil rights struggle of 
     the late 1950s and early 1960s.
       As president of the Civic Action Committee, he led other 
     local African-American pastors in opening restaurants that 
     had refused to serve minorities, recalled the Rev. James 
     Bledsoe of St. John Missionary Baptist Church.
       The committee intervened when companies refused to hire 
     minorities or to treat them fairly, said Bledsoe, president 
     of the local African-American pastors' Inter-denominational 
     Ministerial Alliance.
       In addition, White and the committee led protests against 
     racial segregation in the Fort Wayne Community Schools 
     district.
       In fall 1969, for example, the pastors organized a boycott 
     that kept 1,300 children out of schools. Children attended 
     ``freedom schools'' in the churches for nine days before FWCS 
     agreed to provide the students with equal educational 
     resources.
       ``He didn't fear any retribution,'' Stith said. ``He just 
     stepped up and did what was right.''
       White also touched many lives through his dynamic preaching 
     and as a mentor, clergy said.
       First as pastor of Progressive Baptist Church from 1955 to 
     1974, and then as leader of True Love Baptist, which he 
     founded in 1974, White was a frequent guest speaker at local 
     pulpits.
       ``If anybody would call Dr. White to come and speak, he 
     would never say no,'' Latham said.
       White's preaching ability also frequently set up and 
     preached at out-of-town crusades as part of his duties as 
     chairman of the National Baptist Convention's evangelistic 
     board, Bledsoe said.
       ``I do a lot of traveling,'' Bledsoe said, ``and when I say 
     I'm from Fort Wayne, they say, `Oh, you are from Jesse 
     White's town.'''
       But despite a busy schedule, White was always willing to 
     help with a community or personal need, said the Rev. Vernon 
     Graham, executive pastor of Associated Churches of Fort Wayne 
     and Allen County.
       ``He was like the tall oak tree,'' Graham said. ``He was 
     one of the pastors the younger pastors would turn to for 
     advice and counseling.''
       Graham also frequently asked White's help in planning or 
     carrying out Associated churches' projects. Those efforts 
     have included establishing food banks and other programs to 
     help the needy, and initiatives to heal racial division.
       Through White's work, Latham and other pastors noted, 
     present generations enjoy the freedom and opportunities they 
     have now.
       ``Dr. White was one of the ones who paved the way,'' Latham 
     said ``I think what we are doing today is standing on his 
     shoulders.''

                          ____________________