[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 85 (Friday, June 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1177-E1178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO McKINLEY LANGFORD BURNETT
______
HON. DENNIS MOORE
of kansas
in the house of representatives
Friday, June 18, 2004
Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, our nation recently celebrated the fiftieth
anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of
Education, which struck down the ``separate but equal'' doctrine,
holding that segregated public schools violated the equal protection
provisions of our Constitution.
As we honor the many intrepid Americans who fought for racial
equality for many years in order to make the Brown decision a reality,
I want to bring to your attention the important contribution to this
effort made by McKinley Langford Burnett of Topeka, Kansas. The Brown
decision was the fulfillment of a long fight over several years to
assure equal education for children. McKinley Burnett began the Topeka,
Kansas-based arm of this campaign in earnest in 1948, when he became
president of the Topeka chapter of the National Association of Colored
People [NAACP]. While earlier attempts had been made to challenge
segregation in Topeka, by 1948 only Topeka High School was integrated,
and that school had separate sports teams for white and black students.
As an observer of the situation said of Burnett after the fact: ``He
faced a school board and superintendent who believed that schools
should remain segregated, black teachers afraid of losing their jobs,
and many who just didn't want to rock the boat. They all faced McKinley
Burnett, a man whose drive and determination kept him working for the
day when schools would be open to all.''
Born in Oskaloosa, Kansas, in 1897, McKinley Burnett faced
discrimination throughout his early life: offered only parts as dancers
or butlers in school plays; relegated to working as a supply clerk at
the Veterans Administration; and turned down for a job as a route
driver with a local bakery because of his race. In 1948, however, he
became president of the Topeka chapter of the NAACP, in a community
where separate schools for the races had been established in 1927. For
2 years, Burnett held meetings and wrote letters seeking support for
school desegregation, without success. According to Charles Baston, a
member of the Topeka NAACP chapter, the school board would often extend
its meetings by sitting and joking, hoping the NAACP members at the
meeting would leave without speaking: ``We never left.''
In 1950, the NAACP, under Burnett's leadership, recruited 13 black
families to challenge segregation by sending their children to enroll
in white-only schools. The 20 children, including 7-year-old Linda
Brown of Topeka, were denied enrollment, and in February 1951 the NAACP
filed suit. Three years later, the Supreme Court issued their landmark
decision, in a case that also included suits from South Carolina,
Delaware, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Burnett continued to serve as president of the Topeka NAACP chapter
until 1963, dying in 1968. As Roy Wilkins of the NAACP said upon his
death, in a telegram to Burnett's widow, Lea: ``Throughout the years he
was in the vanguard of our fight for full citizenship rights. For more
than a quarter century he served as President of the Topeka branch of
the NAACP. During that period against seemingly insurmountable odds he
was instrumental in initiating the school desegregation case of Linda
Brown in Topeka which culminated in the historic Brown vs. Board of
Education decision. He could have no better monument than this decision
which changed the course of public education in our country.''
Mr. Speaker, proclamations honoring the life of McKinley Langford
Burnett were issued by the Topeka Board of Education, the Shawnee
County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners, and the Governor of the State
of Kansas. I include them in the Record, along with an Associated Press
article summarizing Mr. Burnett's life and good works, and an editorial
from the Topeka Capital Journal commending his life.
Resolution 01-06
Whereas, McKinley Langford Burnett was a behind-the-scenes
force in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of
Education of Topeka case that dismantled the ``separate but
equal'' provisions for the education of African American
students in America's public schools; and
Whereas, Mr. Burnett was the Topeka chapter president of
the NAACP from 1948-1963, concentrating his efforts on the
integration of Topeka Public Schools and with determination,
conviction and persistence challenged the Board of Education
to end segregated schools; and
Whereas, Mr. Burnett was responsible for recruiting a group
of 13 black families to challenge segregation by sending
their children to enroll in all-white schools in the fall of
1950 and upon the denial of their enrollment, Mr. Burnett,
along with other NAACP officials and attorneys, developed a
strategy for a court case and filed suit against the School
Board through the local NAACP chapter, on behalf of the
families; and
Whereas, three years later the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed
the case, which had been joined with four other school
desegregation lawsuits from South Carolina, Delaware,
Virginia and the District of Columbia, and on May 17, 1954
issued their landmark ruling that said ``separate educational
facilities are inherently unequal'' and that the separate but
equal doctrine had ``no place'' in public education; and
Whereas, 40 years later, the Topeka Public Schools' Board
of Education entered into a school desegregation remedy plan
in the re-opened Brown case, successfully implemented the
remedy plan, and four years later, July 27, 1999, District
Court Judge Richard Rogers approved the district's motion for
unitary status and directed the case be closed; and
Whereas, a committee appointed by the Superintendent of
Schools pursuant to Board Policy 2200 has recommended that
the unnamed Administrative Center of the Topeka Public
Schools be named in honor of Mr. Burnett.
Now therefore, in recognition that Mr. Burnett's vision and
passion for educational justice for all children resulted in
Brown vs. The Board of Education, and has been felt in Topeka
and across the land,
Be it resolved, on this 7th day of June, 2001 that the
Topeka Public Schools' Board of Education, to commemorate the
progress of educational equity initiated by Mr. Burnett in
the 1940's, immortalized by the 1954 Supreme Court, and
sustained in recent years by the courts and Topeka Public
Schools' Board of Education; and to honor this unsung hero
for his untiring efforts until his death in 1968, does hereby
name the Topeka Public Schools' Administrative Center, the:
``McKinley L. Burnett Administrative Center.''
____
Proclamation
Whereas, the late McKinley L. Burnett would have been 100
years old this year on January 31, 1997; and,
Whereas, the original 1942 charter for the Topeka Branch of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People will be on display at the Topeka-Shawnee County
library between the hours of 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on May
17, 1997; and
Whereas, on February 28, 1951 the NAACP led by McKinley
Burnett filed a lawsuit which resulted in the Historic
Supreme Court decision on May 17, 1954, Brown v. Topeka Board
of Education; and,
Whereas, on Saturday, May 17, 1997, the Kansas Committee to
Commemorate Brown v. Education and Bias Busters of Kansas
will observe the 43rd anniversary of the Historic Supreme
Court Decision at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public
Library at 4:00 p.m.; and,
Whereas, at the Committee's annual observance, a special
ceremony on this day, tribute will be paid to McKinley L.
Burnett, president of the Topeka Branch of the National
Association for the Advancement of
[[Page E1178]]
Colored people with a Pictorial Stamp Cancellation; and,
Whereas, Brown v. Topeka Board of Education is recognized
as the Civil Rights Case of the Century by overturning Plessy
v. Ferguson, and deciding that ``Separate is not necessarily
equal''; and,
Whereas, this Nation has become a great Nation because of
the contributions of many people of different races and
nationalities, all giving their best to make our Country what
it is today; and,
Whereas, frequently we become so involved in our daily
tasks that we neglect to say ``Thank You'' to those who give
their time and energy to benefit others.
Now, therefore, the Board of County Commissioners of the
County of Shawnee, Kansas, meeting in regular session on this
15th day of May, 1997, does hereby proclaim May 17, 1997 as
McKinley L. Burnett Day in Shawnee County and invite the
participation of every section of the population regardless
of race, color, creed, or religion.
____
State of Kansas
Whereas, The late McKinley L. Burnett would have been 100
years old on January 31, 1997; and
Whereas, On May 17, the Kansas Committee to Commemorate
Brown v. Topeka Board of Education and Bias Busters of Kansas
will observe the 43rd anniversary of the Historic Supreme
Court Decision. At the Committee's annual observance, a
special tribute will be paid to McKinley L. Burnett with a
Pictorial Stamp Cancellation; and
Whereas, The original 1942 charter for the Topeka Branch of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People will be on display at the Topeka-Shawnee County
Library on May 17, 1997; and
Whereas, Brown v. Topeka Board of Education is recognized
as the Civil Rights Case of the Century by overturning Plessy
v. Ferguson, and deciding that ``separate is not necessarily
equal''; and
Whereas, This Nation has become a great nation because of
the contributions of many people of different races and
nationalities, all giving their best to make our country what
it is today;
On behalf of the citizens of the State of Kansas, I would
like to recognize McKinley L. Burnett and invite the
participation of all citizens, regardless of race, color,
creed, or religion.
Bill Graves,
Governor.
____
McKinley Burnett Is Forgotten But Played a Key Role in Brown Case
(By John Hanna)
Topeka.--Most folks know about Linda Brown, the young black
girl who was barred from attending a school near her home
because of her race. Many also have heard of her father,
Oliver Brown.
His name appeared first on one of the U.S. Supreme Court's
most famous cases. The May 17, 1954 ruling in Brown vs. Board
of Education of Topeka declared school segregation
unconstitutional.
But few people have heard of McKinley Burnett. People who
do know about him think his anonymity is a shame, because he
played a key role in the Brown case.
Burnett served as president of the Topeka chapter of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
from 1948 to 1963.
And his anger at the local school board's refusal to end
segregation in elementary schools helped fuel a small but
persistent movement that led to the Brown case in February
1951.
``Quite frankly, McKinley Burnett was one of the primary
catalysts,'' said Cheryl Brown Henderson, a daughter of
Oliver Brown, who is now president of the Brown Foundation.
``It's very important that people have their rightful place
in history.''
Local activists scheduled a ceremony for Saturday at
Topeka's public library to honor Burnett, marking the 100th
year since his birth and the 43rd anniversary of the Brown
decision. On display will be family memorabilia, pictures and
letters.
Burnett was born in Oskaloosa in January 1897. He became an
activist early in life, said a son, Marquis Burnett.
``When they had school plays, the only parts he could get
were being a dancer or a butler,'' Marquis Burnett said.
McKinley Burnett worked in the Santa Fe railroad shops, as
well as at the Veterans' Administration hospital as a stock
clerk, one of the better jobs available for blacks in those
days. People understood that some jobs simply were closed to
blacks.
Letters the family displays from its collection show the
harshness of discrimination. Some are from McKinley Burnett
to various Kansas officials, complaining about the refusal of
companies to hire blacks.
In November 1950, he wrote about his conversation with the
sales manager of a Topeka bakery, which had an opening for a
route man.
``He told me that he could not hire a Negro for such a job
and that such had never even been considered, neither had
they ever had such a request before,'' Burnett wrote.
In 1948, Burnett and other NAACP officials began pushing
for integration of Topeka's elementary schools. State law
allowed segregation in cities as large as Topeka but did not
mandate it.
Topeka High School was integrated but had separate sports
teams and clubs for whites and blacks.
At the time, the city had 18 all-white elementary schools
and four for blacks. The district's superintendent believed
in segregation; the school board agreed.
One board member challenged McKinley Burnett to a fight.
Charles Baston, another local NAACP member, remembered in a
1992 interview for the Kansas State Historical Society that
the board was rude. It forced NAACP members to wait until the
early hours of the morning to voice their concerns.
``It was rather disgusting, because a lot of times, a board
member would go through their agenda, and then they would sit
and laugh or joke about something to try to extend the
time,'' Baston said. ``We never left.''
By 1950, McKinley Burnett had enough. He and a small group
met at the home of Lucinda Todd, the local chapter's
secretary, to plot strategy.
``Going to court was their last recourse,'' said Henderson,
the Brown Foundation president.
NAACP officials recruited parents with schoolchildren to be
plaintiffs. Legend has it that Oliver Brown's name was listed
first because it was first alphabetically, but in fact his
daughter suspects it was because he was the only male parent.
In her interview for the state historical society, Mrs.
Todd remembered how concerned some blacks were. Black
teachers had been told by one school official that
integration would end their jobs.
``A lot of people had jobs--they worked for the city--and
didn't want to cause trouble,'' Marquis Burnett said. ``It
wasn't really popular.''
In the fall of 1950, 13 black families tried to enroll
their children in white schools across the city. All were
turned away. The NAACP had counseled them to have a witness
and to document what had happened.
The lawsuit was filed in February 1951. The U.S. Supreme
Court consolidated it with four other cases before issuing
its historic ruling.
``At that time, he never thought, `I'm going to do
something to make history,' '' Marquis Burnett said of his
father. ``He was just doing what he had to do.''
McKinley Burnett greeted the ruling with jubilation,
telling reporters in Topeka: ``I say, thank God for the
Supreme Court.''
Burnett battled leukemia throughout his life and retired as
NAACP president in 1963. He died five years later, at the age
of 71.
May 17 remained a special day for him.
``That became McKinley Burnett's personal holiday, and he
would not work for anyone on that day,'' said Baston, the
NAACP board member.
____
McKinley Burnett--A Civil Rights Hero
In any worthy struggle, there are those who doggedly go
about the task at hand without fanfare. McKinley Burnett was
just such a man.
The Topekan got his due, albeit late, recognition Saturday
at a ceremony and special pictorial postal cancellation at
the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.
Although Brown and often Scott are the names most often
mentioned in the landmark 1954 school desegregation ruling,
Burnett had built the foundation on which it was based. His
effort started back in the 1930s and focused not just on
schools, but also other forms of segregation, including movie
theaters, restaurants, court-houses and other facilities.
But Burnett saw the schools as the best place to initiate
the changes, and he worked diligently for that cause. When
years of effort failed to move the Topeka Board of Education,
Burnett in 1950 finally threatened to sue. The march toward
Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education began.
Brown refers, of course, to the family that alphabetically
headed the list of plaintiffs. Scott is the name of the
family of lawyers who argued the case. But make no mistake,
Burnett is also an important part of the suit.
Saturday's special cancellation attests to that. Done in
recognition of the 43rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court
ruling, the cancellation cites the suit filed by the NAACP on
Feb. 18, 1951, that led to the ruling. Burnett, who is
pictured on the cancellation, was president of the local
NAACP at the time and this is the 100th anniversary of his
birth. He died in 1968.
It's unfortunate his contributions weren't more highly
recognized during his lifetime. By all accounts, however,
Burnett valued results more than personal glory. A true hero.
____________________