[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 166 (Friday, September 24, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING DR. ROBERT L. GREEN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 24, 2021

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a pioneer for civil 
rights in East Lansing, Dr. Robert L. Green.
  In 1964, Dr. Green broke barriers as the first African American to 
own a home in East Lansing. As he tells it, after finishing his PhD, he 
was a young, tenured Black professor at Michigan State University.
  His students in the School of Education would come to him with 
problems--like the fact that Black students were being turned away at 
the barbershop in the Union building. As soon as he heard about it, Dr. 
Green went to the President of MSU, John Hannah, and, together with the 
student, the three of them marched down to the Union and personally 
desegregated the barbershop.
  Stories like these are a dime a dozen with Dr. Green. He's been a 
lifelong champion for equality and he's never met a problem he couldn't 
solve. He worked at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 
(SCLC)--marching for voting rights in Mississippi and bringing his 
boss, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to speak on campus.
  And yet, despite his achievements, when he and his wife, Lettie, were 
looking to buy a home, they would arrive at a house knowing it was 
available--only to be denied due to the color of their skin. Dr. 
Green's tenacity was clear from the start, and he wouldn't let the 
prejudice of the day win.
  It was only after President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order 
banning housing discrimination that Dr. Green and Lettie sued the 
Lansing Board of Realtors to have their chance. When they won their 
case, the Greens became the first couple in the Nation to use the 
executive order's authority to purchase a home.
  Visitors to that home included the highest levels of the SCLC, from 
Ambassador Andrew Young to Coretta Scott King. Recently, a group of 
civic leaders worked with the Michigan Historical Society to approve a 
historical marker that commemorates that groundbreaking first house.
  And just last month, it was announced that the elementary school that 
taught Dr. Green's children will soon be renamed to commemorate his 
lifelong commitment to communities of color. As the elected 
representative for East Lansing, I'm proud to recognize him today, in 
the People's House, so that his legacy may live on.

                          ____________________