[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 92 (Wednesday, July 10, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4475-H4476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO CLARENCE E. LIGHTNER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), and the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Watt), to call attention to my colleagues to the passing 
of a most distinguished North Carolinian, really one of the most 
prominent North Carolinians as it relates to the civil rights and a 
pioneer in that area.
  Clarence E. Lightner, 80 years of age, died on July 8 of heart 
failure. He was the first and only African American to serve as mayor 
of our capital city in Raleigh. In a quiet and yet determined way he 
brokered the hundreds of compromises that moved Raleigh from a small 
segregated southern city to the growing metropolitan city that it is 
today. We have truly lost a giant in North Carolina.
  As the son of an achiever, Clarence Lightner proved to be an achiever 
himself from the beginning. He graduated from a segregated school in 
Raleigh, North Carolina, where he went on to what is now North Carolina 
Central, to get a degree. And Clarence was an outstanding quarterback; 
most of us who knew him, he never talked about athletics, but he was an 
outstanding quarterback in his day on the football team.

                              {time}  1715

  After that he served in World War II, went on to get a degree in 
mortuary service in Philadelphia, and then returned to Raleigh, opened 
a business, his family business, and started to get involved in 
politics.
  He was one of the leaders in that area. As I said, he was quiet 
spoken, always well dressed, of a courtly manner, and keenly 
intelligent. Clarence was a man for his time. He understood what needed 
to be done. He was a man of good will who attracted other people of 
good will in that very trying time that we found ourselves in.
  He spoke softly and listened well. The issues of the day called for 
vision, hard work, determination, negotiation and compromise; and he 
proved to be great at all those. He followed his father in the Lightner 
funeral home business and he ran it successfully. He then became a 
Raleigh city councilman in those trying days. He saw his business grow 
and followed his footsteps and became a city council member in 1967.
  He served in that post for 6 years, during which time Raleigh moved 
forward with equality for all of its citizens in a fair and, what many 
thought were, a justifiable way. But Clarence Lightner said it was time 
to move forward to the next level, and so Clarence Lightner was elected 
mayor in 1972, having put together a coalition of suburban precincts 
with African American precincts to capture city hall, being the first 
African American and the only African American to serve as mayor of the 
city of Raleigh. His election as mayor really became national news 
immediately. His election was a precursor to what would happen across 
the South in later years.
  As the son of an achiever, Clarence Lightner proved to be an achiever 
from the beginning. He graduated from a segregated Raleigh High School, 
then from what is now North Carolina Central University, where he was 
an outstanding quarterback. After service in World War II, he completed 
a course at Echols College of Mortuary Science in Philadelphia and 
returned to Raleigh to take over the family funeral business. He 
immediately became involved in the political questions of the day in a 
period that marked the Civil Rights Movement in the segregated South.
  Quiet spoken, always well dressed, courtly, keenly intelligent, 
Lightner was the quintessential man for the times in which he found 
himself. He was a man of good will who attracted other people of good 
will in that most trying of times. He spoke softly and listened well. 
The issues of the day called for vision, hard work, determination, 
negotiation and compromise. Lightner proved to be adept at all.
  Lightner, whose father established Lightner Funeral Home, had run 
unsuccessfully for the Raleigh City Commission in 1919 in the tightly 
segregated city. Calvin Lightner then saw his businesses suffer because 
of a white backlash. Clarence Lightner, following in the footsteps of 
his father, ran successfully for the Raleigh City Council in 1967. He 
served in that post for 6 years, during which Raleigh moved toward 
equality for all its citizens. It is fair, perhaps, to say that 
Lightner was the ``go to'' person on any question that involved racial 
equality during that period. The Raleigh of today is testimony that his 
decisions were good ones.

[[Page H4476]]

  Lightner was elected mayor of Raleigh in 1972, having put together a 
coalition of suburban precincts with African-American precincts to 
capture a City Hall that had been run previously by bankers, merchants, 
and longtime established neighborhoods. His election as mayor of a 
capital city was national news. His election was the precursor to what 
would happen across the South in later years.
  Defeated for re-election in 1975, Lightner never again ran for public 
office, though he was appointed by Governor James B. Hunt to the State 
Senate in 1977 to complete a term for developer John Winters, a close 
friend. He remained on the forefront of every question that had to do 
with Raleigh development and, in particular, with anything that would 
affect the south and southwest parts of the city.
  Lightner's contribution after his service as mayor was of major 
importance. He was, in a sense, the power broker with whom politicians 
had to deal if they wanted to be successful in Raleigh and Wake County. 
He served as a model for--and mentor of--other African-American young 
people in whom he saw promise. Former State House Speaker Dan Blue, now 
running for the U.S. Senate, was a protege. So was Brad Thompson, state 
director for U.S. Senator John Edwards. Most of Raleigh's current 
African-American leaders share the Lightner stamp.
  Clarence Lightner was a successful businessman, husband and father. 
He served his business profession at all levels, including as president 
of the National Morticians Associations. He served the Raleigh Citizens 
Associations, Rex Hospital, the Raleigh Human Relations Council, the 
NAACP, the Southern Policies Board and dozens of other organizations. 
He was chairman of both the Saint Augustine's College Board of Trustees 
and that of North Carolina State University.
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. I yield to the gentleman from Charlotte, Mecklenburg 
County, North Carolina (Mr. Watt), who knew Clarence well.
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding to me, and I thank my colleague, the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), and my colleague, the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Price), for taking the time out to do this tribute to 
Clarence Lightner.
  For African American politicians in North Carolina, there are a 
number of people on whose shoulders we believe we stand as Members of 
Congress, as mayors of cities, as city council people. Clarence 
Lightner was among the first of those on whose shoulders we stand and 
on whose shoulders a number of politicians in North Carolina have stood 
over the years.
  I remember very well back in the early 1970s when I started getting 
into politics, managing Harvey Gantt's campaign. Harvey Gantt went on 
to become, in later years, the first African American mayor of 
Charlotte, North Carolina, but he did that on the history and with the 
history there that Clarence Lightner had broken that barrier in Raleigh 
some years earlier.
  He was just a magnificent man whom we all looked up to, respected, 
and admired; and his memory will certainly live on for years and years. 
He is the person who gave us advice and who mentored us.

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