[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 160 (Tuesday, November 12, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1628-E1629]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING DR. MAURICE JACKSON'S EDITORIAL: REMEMBERING THE TURKISH 
          BROTHERS WHO HELPED CHANGE RACE RELATIONS IN AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 12, 2013

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. 
Maurice Jackson,

[[Page E1629]]

an associate professor of history and African-American Studies and 
affiliated professor of performing arts (jazz) at Georgetown 
University.
  He published the following editorial entitled, ``Remembering the 
Turkish brothers who helped change race relations in America,'' for The 
Hill newspaper on Friday, November 1, 2013.
  As Turkey recently celebrated the 90th anniversary of the founding of 
the modern Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it is important 
to not forget Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, who arrived 80 years ago to our 
Nation's capital, during a time when Washington was deeply segregated. 
However, through their efforts of rock and jazz, they were able to help 
positively change race relations in America.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Congressional Turkey Caucus, I have 
always been a staunch supporter and advocate for Turkey. The Republic 
of Turkey, in my opinion, remains a key strategic ally to the United 
States. Therefore, I am very pleased to submit for the Congressional 
Record the editorial by Dr. Maurice Jackson.

                     [From The Hill, Nov. 1, 2013]

  Maurice Jackson: Remembering the Turkish Brothers Who Helped Change 
                       Race Relations in America

(By DC Commission on African American Affairs Chairman Maurice Jackson)

       Nearly 80 years ago, two young Turkish brothers arrived in 
     a deeply segregated Washington, D.C., and set on a course to 
     help change race relations in America. Their path was not 
     politics, but rock and roll and jazz. The lesson of Ahmet and 
     Nesuhi Ertegun says as much about America as it does about 
     those two remarkable men and their origins. This week, on the 
     90th anniversary of the founding of the modern Turkish state 
     and through the prism of a ``post-racial'' America, it is 
     worth recalling this remarkable journey.
       Sons of Turkey's first ambassador to the United States, 
     Ahmet and Nesuhi believed in the power of music to bring 
     people together, which they did time and time again. Their 
     love of music repeatedly led them to the city's black 
     neighborhoods, where they took in the sounds of the country's 
     greatest African-American musicians at the Howard Theatre and 
     along ``Black Broadway,'' which ran up and down 7th Street 
     and U Street NW. Despite having attended private schools his 
     entire life, Ahmet often joked that he got his real education 
     at the Howard.
       Ahmet in particular spent his youth bridging two very 
     different worlds. At 16, Ahmet and his sister listened to the 
     radio broadcast of Marian Anderson's performance at the 
     Lincoln Memorial, which took place after the Daughters of the 
     American Revolution refused to rent Constitution Hall to a 
     black artist. After attending shows at the Howard, he and his 
     brother would often invite artists back to the ambassador's 
     residence, where a racially and culturally mixed group of 
     musicians and music lovers gathered for jam sessions and 
     meals.
       Beginning in 1940, musicians such as Duke Ellington, Johnny 
     Hodges, ``Lead Belly,'' Teddy Wilson, Lester Young and 
     members of the Benny Goodman, Ellington and Count Basie 
     orchestras performed at the Turkish Embassy. Much to the ire 
     of some Southern politicians at the time, the ambassador's 
     residence became one of the few places that blacks and whites 
     could gather freely and celebrate their shared love of music. 
     Their father insisted that in the embassy, ``his nation's 
     house,'' all, regardless of color, would enter through the 
     front door and be treated with dignity and respect.
       Recalling Washington in the 1940s, Ahmet once said, ``We 
     had a lot of friends in Washington, and we could never go to 
     a restaurant together, never go to a movie, or to the theater 
     with them. It was impossible to go out. I couldn't even take 
     Duke Ellington, who is one of the geniuses of our country, to 
     a restaurant. Or Count Basie. That's how it was and we could 
     not accept it.'' In early 1942 Ahmet and Nesuhi organized the 
     first integrated concert at the only venue that would host 
     it: the Jewish Community Center. In a deeply divided 
     Washington, these two young Muslim Turks brought together 
     black and white Christians at a Jewish venue for an 
     unprecedented concert.
       Then, after ``threatening to make a big scene'' unless the 
     National Press Club rented its space at 14th and F STs. NW, 
     they held a second integrated concert after the National 
     Press Club relented. In a Washington Post article published 
     on May 16, 1943, titled ``Two Turks, Hot for U.S. Swing,'' 
     Bill Gottlieb wrote that ``from the beginning, the young 
     Erteguns treated the music of Morton, Armstrong, Oliver, 
     Ellington and the rest with sincere enthusiasm and scholarly 
     discrimination, an attitude that, strangely enough is more 
     typical of Europeans than of Americans.''
       Ahmet went on to help form Atlantic Records. He traveled to 
     New Orleans and Harlem to sign the greatest black musicians 
     of the time, including Stick McGhee, The Harlemaires and The 
     Drifters. At the time, black artists were significantly 
     underpaid and exploited for their talents. Most never 
     achieved mainstream success and instead watched as white 
     artists topped the charts with covers of their music.
       Today, as Turks and Turkish Americans celebrate the 
     extraordinary rise of their nation over the 90 years since 
     the founding of the modem Turkish state, Americans 
     unknowingly celebrate two Turks who helmed the extraordinary 
     rise of black music. We should take a moment to remember the 
     legacy of Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, two Turkish Americans who 
     worked with blacks, whites, Muslims and Jews to break down 
     racial, cultural and religious barriers and revolutionized 
     the recording industry.
       A short time before he died, Ahmet Ertegun said, ``All 
     popular music stems from black music, be it jazz or rock and 
     roll.'' He added, ``I'd be happy if people said that I did a 
     little bit to raise the dignity and recognition of the 
     greatness of African-American music.'' He understood the 
     extraordinary beauty and dignity of African-American music 
     and its contributions to the world.

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