[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 86 (Monday, June 1, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3400-S3401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                        REMEMBERING GEORGE HALEY

 Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I recently paid tribute to 
George Haley, a distinguished Tennessean and distinguished American who 
died at the age of 89 on May 13.
  I ask unanimous consent that the article ``George Haley, the Giant 
Who Never Quit,'' by Bankole Thompson, published in the Michigan 
Chronicle and a copy of a resolution passed by the Kansas Senate 
honoring George Haley be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              [From the Michigan Chronicle, May 18, 2015]

                 George Haley, The Giant Who Never Quit

                         (By Bankole Thompson)

       Malcolm X, in ``The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to 
     Alex Haley,'' described by Time magazine as one of the 10 
     best non-fiction books of the century, told Alex Haley to 
     remind his younger brother, George Haley, not to forget that 
     it was because of Malcolm and others raising hell in the 
     streets as fighters for racial democracy that George was able 
     to make it in Kansas where he became the first Black state 
     senator in 1964.
       Eight years ago in the basement of his Silver Spring home 
     in Maryland, I asked George what he thought of Malcolm's 
     remarks about him in that seminal book. He looked at me and 
     laughed and called it ``a rather interesting distinction.'' I 
     smiled back and we continued looking over materials he wanted 
     to share with me including letters Alex wrote to him as he 
     traveled around the country and the world. From the 
     correspondences I deduced that he was Alex's secret weapon.
       Last week, George Haley, the man known to many as 
     ``Ambassador Haley'' died May 13 at his home at the age of 89 
     following an illness. No man has had a bigger impact on my 
     life growing up than George Haley. He was an accomplished 
     lawyer, a United States Ambassador, a veteran of the U.S. Air 
     Force, a son of the South, a family man, a Morehouse man, a 
     thinker of the Black experience and a person who did not 
     allow Jim Crow to subdue him when he became the second Black 
     to earn a law degree at the University of Arkansas. As he 
     would explain later, he was living in a basement and would go 
     upstairs to take his classes. He would go on to serve six 
     U.S. presidents.
       I met George when I was a teenager looking to explore the 
     possibilities of the world and how to better myself living in 
     a fatherless home. Being raised by a grandmother who was 
     doing her best, I had the good fortune one day of meeting 
     Ambassador Haley, who instantly took interest in me. He 
     treasured my grandmother and congratulated her on many 
     occasions for her efforts in raising a Black boy. Not knowing 
     what the future would hold for me as a teenager because I did 
     not have the typical structure of parental support, George 
     entered my life, enamored by my germinating skills as a 
     budding writer. As a mentor, he told me the world was my 
     oyster and shared stories of his life with me.
       One day, during one of my regular visits to his office, he 
     started asking pointed questions about the unexplained 
     absence of my dad. I told him the stories my grandmother 
     shared with me about my father not being at home. He looked 
     at me closely, tense and upset. He shook his head and told me 
     never to feel bad about that because ``the man upstairs'' was 
     in control. He was not an absent father. He was a present 
     father who loved and always talked about his kids.
       No doubt, having someone of his stature say that to a lad 
     who was at a crucial stage in life was reassuring. Many young 
     men today, especially Black boys, need the confidence and 
     support of accomplished men who have crossed every Rubicon 
     with grace and dignity, to tell them that their world is not 
     going to fall apart and support them in ensuring that they 
     too can be meaningfully and productively engaged and become 
     change makers.
       We developed a father-son relationship. He told me about 
     Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, the former president of Morehouse 
     College and the man who mentored him and Dr. Martin Luther 
     King Jr. and others. His favorite phrase from Dr. Mays that 
     he left me with was, ``The man who out thinks you, rules 
     you.''
       He talked about the need for critical thinkers in the Black 
     community, and said we owed it to ourselves to provide an 
     atmosphere that would illuminate the brilliance of Black boys 
     and allow them to grow into manhood and find a sense of 
     achievement.
       He talked about the responsibilities of writers having the 
     ability and power to narrate and shape history. Black writers 
     in particular, he believed, should never fail to articulate 
     the Black experience and tell stories that often could 
     otherwise go missing. He referenced many times the book 
     ``Roots,'' written by Alex and how it impacted the world. I 
     still kept a copy of ``Roots'' in my study which he 
     autographed for me as a birthday gift. We discussed on 
     numerous times the importance of preserving a bibliography of 
     Black writers of the last century.
       As a Morehouse graduate of the class of 1949, the same time 
     Dr. King was at Morehouse, he believed in the philosophy of 
     Dr. Mays and what he did in training and preparing 
     generations of Black men like him and others at Morehouse who 
     would go on to change the world and better their communities.
       George Haley was a first-rate gentleman of the era before 
     and after Jim Crow. In 1963, Alex Haley wrote in Readers 
     Digest, ``George Haley: The Man Who Wouldn't Quit,'' an 
     article that chronicled the persistent racial humiliation he 
     underwent at the University of Arkansas.
       ``The first day of school, he went quickly to his basement 
     room, put his sandwich on the table, and headed upstairs for 
     class. He found himself moving through wave upon wave of 
     White faces that all mirrored the same emotions--shock, 
     disbelief, then choking, inarticulate rage. The lecture room 
     was buzzing with conversation, but as he stepped through the 
     door there was silence. He looked for his seat. It was on the 
     side between the other students and the instructor. When the 
     lecture began, he tried desperately to concentrate on what 
     the professor was saying, but the hate in that room seeped 
     into his conscience and obliterated thought. On the second 
     day, he was greeted with open taunts and threats: ``You, 
     nigger, what are you doing here?'' ``Hey, nigger, go back to 
     Africa.'' He tried not to hear, to walk with an even pace, 
     with dignity,'' Alex wrote about George in a piece that was a 
     classic exhibit of the Jim Crow era.
       When Dr. King appeared at Kansas State University (KSU) in 
     January of 1968, George came with him. Decades later, the 
     university would invite him to return in 2011 to hear the 
     rediscovered recordings of King's remarks. What was also 
     discovered was another piece of history: After King's 
     assassination, a handwritten note with George's name on it 
     was found in his coat pocket.
       In 2010, during one of his shuttle visits to Michigan, he 
     asked me to meet him for lunch at the Westin Hotel in 
     Southfield. There I asked him about the note found in King's 
     jacket. He said he was happy the new information would allow 
     the university to do more around race and justice and went on 
     to explain how it happened.
       King scribbled down names of individuals, including George, 
     that he needed to recognize before speaking at KSU. George 
     and three other university officials, including then KSU 
     President McCain, had chartered a plane to pick King up in 
     Manhattan, Kansas so he could come speak at the university.
       George Haley believed in education and his life was shaped 
     by seminal events. When he came out of law school, he joined 
     the law firm of Stevens Jackson in Kansas, which provided 
     work in the Brown v. Board of Education case in Topeka.
       I treasured his mentorship. I cherished the father figure 
     he was to me. I was honored to have known and spent a 
     significant amount of time with him. I accompanied him to 
     events he wanted me to be at.
       For instance, when his close friend Simeon Booker, whose 
     groundbreaking coverage of the Emmett Till murder trial made 
     him one of the most iconic Black journalists of all time, 
     celebrated his 50 years as Washington Bureau chief for Jet 
     magazine, George asked me to accompany him to the 
     celebration. The event was a Who's Who of the Black writers 
     world.
       His lasting impact on me would never wane with passage of 
     time.

[[Page S3401]]

       Before he became ill, I always expected an interrogating 
     call from him at the office in a sagely voice wanting to know 
     what the latest update was with me, especially if he didn't 
     hear from me for a month or two. If his call went to voice 
     mail, our receptionist Pauline Leatherwood, would leave a 
     note to say that George Haley called from Maryland.
       When my son was born he was excited. He sent a Christmas 
     gift for him every year. It was always predictable--something 
     to keep him warm in the winter. We talked about fatherhood 
     and the challenges and opportunities that come with such 
     responsibility, highlighted in Dr. Curtis Ivery's book 
     ``Black Fatherhood: Reclaiming Our Legacy.''
       He would remind me sometimes of the first day we met and 
     the impression I made on him, and how life, often punctuated 
     by challenges, has a way of taking us to places unthinkable.
       George Williford Boyce Haley, born in Henning, Tennessee, 
     will be missed by his wife, Doris Haley, a retired 
     Washington, D.C. educator, and his children attorney Anne-
     Haley Brown, who works in the Los Angeles City Attorney's 
     Office, and son David Haley, a Kansas state senator and his 
     beloved grandchildren.
       When I think about George Haley's demise, I think about the 
     adage that, ``Those who have lived a good life do not fear 
     death, but meet it calmly, and even long for it in the face 
     of great suffering. But those who do not have a peaceful 
     conscience dread death as though life means nothing but 
     physical torment. The challenge is to live our life so that 
     we will be prepared for death when it comes.''
       George Haley lived a full life and he will continue to live 
     on in the lives of those he helped and mentored.
       He was a man of mark, and the giant who never quit.
                                  ____


                       Senate Resolution No. 1707

A Resolution recognizing 50 years of black state senators in Kansas and 
  honoring George W. Haley, the first elected black state senator in 
                                 Kansas

       Whereas, February of each year is designated ``Black 
     History Month'' in the United States, and, in Kansas, 
     Governor Sam Brownback has also designated the same, urging 
     all Kansans to recognize accomplishments and contributions to 
     Kansas made by people of color; and
       Whereas, The 1965 session of the Kansas State Legislature 
     was the first time in history that blacks would serve in the 
     Kansas Senate, a legislative body that first commenced upon 
     Statehood in 1861; and
       Whereas, George Williford Boyce Haley was born on August 
     28, 1925, in Henning, Tennessee. After serving in World War 
     II in the U.S. Air Force, George Haley attended Morehouse 
     College with fellow student Martin Luther King, Jr. and 
     became one of the first African-Americans to graduate from 
     the University of Arkansas School of Law. George Williford 
     Boyce Haley, a Republican Kansas City attorney and resident 
     of Wyandotte County, and Democrat Curtis McClinton, Sr., a 
     realtor from Wichita and member of the Kansas House of 
     Representatives, were both elected to the Kansas Senate in 
     the general election held in November, 1964. Haley was 
     officially accorded first-elected status because his district 
     number, 11, numerically preceded McClinton's district number, 
     26. Haley's last name alphabetically precedes McClinton's and 
     Wyandotte County election officials reported election results 
     to the Secretary of State's office before Sedgwick County 
     election officials reported results; and
       Whereas, Haley joined the firm of Stevens, Jackson and 
     Davis in Kansas City, Kansas, who provided legal assistance 
     in the landmark civil rights case, Brown v. Board of 
     Education in Topeka, Kansas. Haley then served as Deputy City 
     Attorney in Kansas City, Kansas; and
       Whereas, In the Kansas Legislature, Senator George Haley 
     was an advocate for personal liberties and social equity, and 
     a visionary for inclusion. He was often not supported by 
     fellow members of the Kansas Senate, including members from 
     his own political party. A noted example of putting 
     principles above partisan or popular politics was his near-
     solo support for fair and equal housing; and
       Whereas, Haley went on to serve in six United States 
     presidential administrations. He served as Chief Counsel of 
     the Federal Transportation Administration under President 
     Nixon, Associate Director for the Equal Employment 
     Opportunity Commission at the U.S. Information Agency and 
     General Counsel and Congressional Liaison under President 
     Ford, Senior Advisor to the U.S. delegation of the United 
     Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 
     under President Reagan, Chairman of the Postal Rate 
     Commission under President George H.W. Bush and, under 
     President Clinton, as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of 
     The Gambia in West Africa, from whence Haley's forefather 
     Kuntah Kinteh was brought to America; and
       Whereas, Haley now lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with 
     his wife of 60 years, Doris; and
       Whereas, Over the last 50 years, beginning with George W. 
     Haley, only eight other black people have served in the 
     Kansas State Senate: Curtis R. McClinton; Bill McCray; Eugene 
     Anderson; U.L. ``Rip'' Gooch; Sherman J. Jones; David B. 
     Haley; Donald Betts Jr.; and Oletha Faust-Goudeau. Edward 
     Sexton Jr. held the honorary title of Kansas State Senator, 
     but did not serve: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate of the State of Kansas, That we do 
     hereby honor and recognize the half century of elected Afri-
     Kansans in this Chamber, cognizant during Black History Month 
     of their contributions to the greatness of our state. We 
     especially acknowledge the accomplishments of our first 
     elected black member, George W. Haley, who, through 
     determination, hard work and the grace of God, broke numerous 
     barriers to become a distinguished and inspiring American 
     statesman, and be it further
       Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate shall send two 
     enrolled copies of this resolution to Ambassador George W. 
     Haley.

                          ____________________