[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 141 (Wednesday, October 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2017]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DEDICATION OF CLAYTON, JACKSON, McGHIE MEMORIAL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 8, 2003

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the dedication 
of the Clayton, Jackson, McGhie Memorial that will take place in 
Duluth, Minnesota on October 10. The memorial commemorates the lives of 
three young black men who were murdered in a mob riot in Duluth in 
1920.
  In the early morning hours of July 15, 1920, police in Duluth 
arrested six young black men employed with the visiting John Robinson 
Circus for the rape of a local white woman. That night a mob numbering 
between five and ten thousand people broke into the police station, 
dragging all six prisoners from their cells into the street. After a 
mock trial that lasted only a few minutes, the mob pronounced Elias 
Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie guilty.
  Clayton, Jackson, and McGhie were then beaten with bricks, had 
lengths of rope fitted around their necks, and one by one they were 
lynched from the crook of a lamppost on a nearby street corner.
  These three young men died in the largest city in my district, for 
charges that were later found to be false. Those who carried out this 
shameful act were never prosecuted for murder or assault. Three men 
from the mob served the only penalty resulting from the lynching: less 
than a year each for ``rioting.'' Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and 
Isaac McGhie were then quickly forgotten. They will not be forgotten 
again.
  The Clayton, Jackson, McGhie Memorial will feature three, seven-foot 
bronze sculptures surrounded by walls inlaid with quotations from 
philosophers. The memorial pays tribute to these innocent young men, 
murdered by a mob filled with hatred, fear and intolerance. This 
memorial will serve as a site for remembrance and reflection; a 
reminder to all who visit of the horrible events of that summer's night 
83 years ago. It is fitting and proper that the city of Duluth 
acknowledges the three circus workers who died and recognizes the 
catastrophic error of the thoughts and feelings that led to their 
deaths. This memorial will serve as a lasting reminder of the 
devastating consequences resulting from this senseless vigilante and 
provides an opportunity for us to think about society's ultimate 
penalty: capital punishment.
  I am deeply troubled that the death penalty is still considered an 
appropriate form of punishment in this country. The principles 
enshrined in the sentencing guidelines of the 38 States that authorize 
the use of the death penalty are antithetical to the principles of 
respect, compassion and atonement to be enshrined Friday in downtown 
Duluth. Capital punishment legitimates violence as a response to 
violence, but as Dr. Martin Luther King wrote in 1967, ``The ultimate 
weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the 
very thing it seeks to destroy . . . Returning violence for violence 
multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid 
of stars.''
  I am very pleased to offer my strong support for the Clayton, 
Jackson, McGhie Memorial in Duluth and for the principles for which 
this memorial stands. I want to congratulate Henry Banks and Catherine 
Ostos, the co-chairs of Clayton, Jackson, McGhie Memorial Committee, 
for their tireless efforts to make this memorial a reality, and to the 
artist Carla Stetson and writer Anthony Peyton Porter for their 
impressive creative work. These dedicated individuals have created a 
powerful statement that publicly proclaims that racism and violence 
have no place in Duluth, in Minnesota, in the United States, or in this 
world. It is important for the Duluth community to acknowledge this 
shameful past event, but it is even more impressive that Duluth has 
created a vision for the future that celebrates the vision of a more 
perfect union of tolerance and social justice.

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