[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 98 (Tuesday, July 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1528-E1529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DR. KENNETH B. CLARK: FOUNDER OF THE JOINT CENTER FOR POLITICAL AND 
                            ECONOMIC STUDIES

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 19, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the importance of 
service, contribution, and dedication. Most Americans recognize these 
attributes of great leaders and humanitarians. They give of their time, 
their energy, and their life in the pursuit of the uplift of their 
people, their generation, and their cause. They see problems, 
challenges, and struggles and do not wander aimlessly, but head 
directly, for a solution. They do not wait for others to take the lead 
of change; they implement the change themselves.
  Most Americans would readily acknowledge the true leaders and 
humanitarians of our time. Few however strive and achieve that 
recognition though. Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark is one of those who had 
in his life worked for the uplift of all people and particularly 
African-Americans in this country. He saw the educational problems, the 
employment challenges, and the academic struggles that faced the 
African-American community.
  Instead of waiting for others to investigate the impact of racism and 
segregation on Black America, Dr. Clark conducted his own psychological 
studies of the negative perceptions of black children in their lives. 
He provided testimony to the National Association for the Advancement 
of Colored People in their case against school segregation. His study, 
which showed how segregation had fostered negative self-perceptions and 
feelings of inferiority among Black youth, was cited by the Supreme 
Court in their Brown v. Board of Education decision ending the 
practice.
  When Black leaders--then beginning to become elected public officials 
as a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965--saw the need for a 
national organization to create and implement programs to train the 
newly elected representatives to public office and create a network for 
their mutual support, Dr. Clark proposed the establishment of a Black-
led think tank that would advance strategies to hasten desegregation 
and eliminate discrimination. Dr. Clark outlined the structure and 
objectives of that organization and wrote publicly about the 
significance that such an organization would have. He placed the plan 
for the organization in historical, contemporary, and advanced terms. 
Dr. Clark worked to amass a body of scholars, activists, and community 
leaders to endow the organization and move it to play an important role 
in the community. He then selected the perfect leader for the Joint 
Center in Eddie N. Williams, an educator and former State Department 
official with whom Dr. Clark had worked to increase the number of 
African-Americans in the Foreign Service. The team of Kenneth Clark and 
Eddie Williams determined the direction and mission of the Joint Center 
for Political and Economic Studies.

  As the challenges of integrating local school systems increasingly 
became apparent to the American public, Dr. Clark proposed educational 
reforms and innovative ideas for addressing these challenges. He served 
on the New York Board of Regents for two decades, faithfully working to 
improve the schools, the educational facilities and the curriculum for 
our future generations of leaders.
  When this country and Black America needed someone to stand up for 
the important issues and causes of the day, Dr. Kenneth Clark was there 
to fight for our interests. He was a great humanitarian, a powerful 
champion, and a superb pioneer for the uplift of Black Americans, the 
American public, and the world community. Dr. Clark passed away on May 
1, 2005. He will long be remembered for his service, dedication, and 
contribution to building a better America.
  I submit to the Record the following article, written by the Joint 
Center's new retired leader Eddie N. William the current edition of 
Focus, the magazine of the Joint Center for Political and Economic 
Studies about the life and times of Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark.

 Reflecting on Kenneth Bancroft Clark: Pioneer and Inspiration to the 
                              Joint Center

       July/August 2005.--Kenneth Bancroft Clark, the 
     distinguished social psychologist whose testimony on the 
     effect of prejudice on children significantly influenced the 
     landmark 1964 Supreme Court desegregation decision, died on 
     May 1, 2005, at

[[Page E1529]]

     age 90. His many achievements as a scholar-activist, author, 
     and civil rights advocate have been duly noted in many 
     written and oral eulogies. He was truly a giant among his 
     contemporaries, a mighty oak in the world of ideas dedicated 
     to compassionate action. He had a profound impact on this 
     nation.
       One of Clark's most important achievements, however, has 
     not been celebrated nearly enough. It is a living testament 
     to his genius, skill, prescience, and unswerving commitment 
     to empowering blacks--the term he always used. He conceived 
     the idea of the Joint Center for Political Studies in 1969 
     and wrote the proposal that the Ford Foundation funded in 
     1970. He was also a member of the Joint Center's board of 
     governors during its first 14 years.


                     The Beginning of a New Chapter

       Clark believed the Joint Center would serve as a bridge 
     between the protest phase of the civil rights movement, which 
     effectively ended with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther 
     King, Jr., in 1968 and the political/public policy phase of 
     the civil rights movement. He believed the Joint Center 
     needed to be launched in order to develop and implement 
     programs and laws to hasten desegregation and spur equal 
     opportunity. He field-tested his ideas with key black 
     political figures around the country, and they were 
     converted. Percy Sutton and Basil Patterson in New York City, 
     Mervyn Dymally in California, and Richard Newhouse in 
     Illinois became standard bearers for a new political thrust 
     in the civil rights movement. So did journalist-political 
     guru Louis Martin and Vernon Jordan, who was already busy 
     registering blacks to vote in the South through the Voter 
     Education Project. The culmination of their efforts was the 
     1969 Institute for Black Elected Officials, which Clark 
     convened in Washington D.C.
       In a brilliant essay co-authored by Clark and distinguished 
     historian John Hope Franklin, titled, ``The Nineteen 
     Eighties: Prologue and Prospect'' and published by the Joint 
     Center in 1981, the authors wrote:
       At the 1969 Institute for Black Elected Officials, which 
     laid the foundation for the Joint Center for Political 
     Studies (now Joint Center for Political and Economic 
     Studies), it was consensus that political activity among 
     blacks had become the `new cutting edge' of the civil rights 
     movement.
       They added:
       Within the past ten years, it has become even clearer that 
     the `cutting edge' of the civil rights movement needs to be 
     sharpened by the inclusion of groups and individuals who are 
     not ordinarily considered political. For blacks, the 
     political challenge of the Eighties is identical to the civil 
     rights challenge of the Sixties--to mobilize all of the 
     available forces and power necessary to attain the goal of 
     racial justice.
       While these words were written nearly a quarter century 
     ago, the authors' keen historical perspective and clarity of 
     vision have stood the test of time and speak to us today 
     about the unfinished tasks which lie ahead. They looked into 
     the future with the skepticism of scholars and pragmatists, 
     and yet their perceptions reflect the faith that has 
     sustained black people in their search for justice, equality, 
     and opportunity.
       Clark's writings, values, and perspectives helped to endow 
     the Joint Center with a unique vision and sense of purpose:
       I was fortunate that I met KBC, as some of us 
     affectionately called him, in 1965, the year the Voting 
     Rights Act was passed, five years before the Joint Center 
     opened its doors, and seven years before I would become the 
     organization's president. At the time, I was director of the 
     Office of Equal Opportunity in the U.S. Department of 
     State, and Clark had been engaged to conduct a study of 
     the Foreign Service Officer entry examination process. 
     Going back to the days of Ralph Bunche, relatively few 
     blacks made it into the prestigious State Department. 
     Clark's job was to identjfy any discriminatory aspects of 
     the examination. Asked later about his findings in this 
     proprietary study, Clark smiled and said: ``My study will 
     never see the light of day.'' It is still emtombed in the 
     State Department vaults. Meanwhile, the scarcity of black 
     employment and appointments there persists.
       In their 1981 essay, Clark and Franklin, both preeminent 
     American intellectual pioneers, proposed a challenge to the 
     Joint Center and indeed the nation as a whole: .
       To the extent that racial justice . . . must be defined in 
     terms of the economic progress . . . of deprived blacks, new 
     methods and approaches must be found to cope with . . . 
     pervasive and insidious forms of racism. Black politics now, 
     more than ever, must transcend the usual boundaries and 
     methods of American politics. By mobilizing in [coalitions] 
     blacks can directly influence the political system, and can 
     win new allies who realize that it is in their self-interest 
     to renew the struggle for racial equality and justice.


                       Policy and Racial Justice

       Clark and Franklin did more than provide a historical 
     framework for the Joint Center as a new kind of civil rights 
     entity, one focusing on political participation and public 
     policy engagement as new weapons in the fight for justice and 
     equality. Drawing on the works of W.E.B. DuBois, they 
     articulated an intellectual framework for the metamorphosis 
     of the nation's first black think tank. In 1982 they 
     collaborated with the Joint Center to create The Committee on 
     Policy for Racial Justice, a group of 30 preeminent black 
     scholars who would convene periodically over nearly a decade 
     to explore the vast array of problems facing black Americans. 
     The committee members published their views in three areas: 
     the economy, the black family, and education.
       I think both KBC and Franklin would insist I list all of 
     the scholars here to convey both the rich intellectual 
     diversity and the think tank quality of the other Committee 
     members. Many of these people were highly placed elected 
     officials; the first black women to serve as a Cabinet 
     secretary; and the first black female U.S. ambassador. They 
     were:
       Bernard Anderson, economist; Mary Frances Berry, historian 
     and lawyer; Derrick Bell, lawyer; Haywood Burns, lawyer; 
     Lisle C. Carter, Jr., lawyer; Jewell Cobb, social scientist; 
     James Comer, psychiatrist; Drew Days, lawyer; James Gibbs, 
     anthropologist; Bernard Gifford, educator; Charles V. 
     Hamilton, political scientist; Patricia Roberts Harris, 
     lawyer; Matthew Holden, political scientist; Joyce Hughes, 
     lawyer; Walter Leonard, lawyer; Sir Arthur Lewis, 
     sociologist; Eleanor Holmes Norton, lawyer; J. Saunders 
     Reddings, social scientist; William Shack, social 
     scientist; Elliott P. Skinner, anthropologist; Mabel 
     Smythe, Africanist; Howard Stanback, economist; Roger 
     Wilkins, journalist/social scientist; William J. Wilson, 
     sociologist.
       With this intellectual powerhouse, the Joint center moved 
     from an organization providing technical assistance to black 
     elected officials and civil rights leaders to a full-fledged 
     one-stop-shop research and public policy institution, 
     commonly referred to as a `think tank.'
       Such was the vision and influence of Kenneth Bancroft 
     Clark. In addition to his many other laudable achievements, 
     he launched a movement and an institution.
       A mighty oak has fallen, but its seeds have taken root and 
     continued to flourish.
       The Joint Center is one of them.


                         KENNETH BANCROFT CLARK

       Career Highlights:
       Founding member and member of the Board of Governors, Joint 
     Center for Political Studies, since 1970.
       Landmark 1950 report sited by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 
     historic decision of school desegregation, Brown vs. Board of 
     Education, May 17, 1964.
       Founded, with Dr. Mamie Phillips Clark, the Northside 
     Center of Child Development, serving children with special 
     psychological needs, 1946; Director, Board of Education 
     commission to implement integration of city schools, 1954; 
     Organized Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Haryou), 
     1962; Founder and President of the Metropolitan Applied 
     Research Center, 1967-1975; First black elected to New York 
     State Board of Regents, 1966-1986; Member of New York State 
     Urban Development Corporation; Director, Social Dynamics 
     Research Institute at CCNY; President, American Psychological 
     Association, 1970-1971; and former President of the Society 
     for the Psychological Study of Social Issues; and, President 
     of Clark, Phillips, Clark & Harris, Inc., from 1975.
       Howard University, bachelor's degree in psychology, 1935; 
     Howard University, master's degree in psychology, 1936; 
     Columbia University, doctorate in psychology, 1940; numerous 
     honorary degrees.
       Awards: Spingarn Medal, from NAACP, 1961; Sidney Hillman 
     Book Award, 1965; Kurt Lewin Memorial Award from the Society 
     for Psychological Study of Social Issues, 1966; and the 
     President Medal of Liberty, 1986.
       Howard University, 1937-38; Hampton Institute, 1940-41; 
     Distinguished Professor of Psychology Emeritus, City College, 
     City University of New York, 1943-75; and first black tenured 
     professor at City College, 1960; visiting professor at Queens 
     College, University of New York, Columbia University, 
     University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, and, 
     Tuskegee Institute.
       Books and Articles: An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem 
     and Modern Democracy (1944); Prejudice and Your Child (1955); 
     The Negro Protest (1963); the prize-winning Dark Ghetto 
     (1965); Dilemmas of Social Power (1965); coauthor with 
     Jeannette Hopkins of A Relevant War Against Poverty (1968); 
     coeditor with Talcott Parsons of The Negro American (1966); A 
     Possible Reality (1972); and, Pathos of Power (1974).

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