[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22730]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          ASA PHILIP RANDOLPH

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present resolution H. Res. 
179 giving homage to one of America's forgotten heroes, Asa Philip 
Randolph. A champion for workers' rights and civil rights for African 
Americans, he has achieved many gains and survived many losses in his 
battles to achieve racial, social and economic equality for all 
Americans.
  Mr. Randolph was born in the post-Reconstruction South on April 15, 
1889 in Crescent City, Florida. At the age of twenty-two, he moved to 
Harlem, New York to attend City College where he studied politics and 
economics, and soon joined the socialist party. During the onset of 
WWI, Mr. Randolph and his friend Chandler Owen established a 
controversial magazine called ``The Messenger,'' which initiated his 
open stance against the segregation of the military and other anti-war 
sentiments. He believed that the statement ``making the world safe for 
democracy'' was a fallacy and a tremendous offense to the intelligence 
of Black Americans because at that time Blacks were being lynched and 
denied the right to vote, in the South especially, and were victims of 
segregation and discrimination all over the Nation. WWI became the 
catalyst for his commitment to fight for the rights of all.
  Although Mr. Randolph has done a lot for the Civil Rights Movement, 
including initiating the famous March on Washington which led to the 
signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he has done much more with 
concern for workers' rights and the labor movement. Employment, better 
wages and equal access are the only ways in which he believed the fight 
against discrimination and racism could be won. Just before WWII, Mr. 
Randolph traveled throughout the Nation to unite African Americans 
against discrimination, which shut them out of well-paying jobs in the 
factories. As a result of his efforts, then President Franklin D. 
Roosevelt signed an order ending discrimination in defense plant jobs. 
Once more in 1948, the power of persuasion and the justice of his 
complaints convinced President Truman to sign an order calling for the 
end to discrimination not only in the armed forces, but also in federal 
and civil service jobs.
  His greatest accomplishment, however, has been attributed to his 
leadership of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Initially, 
Randolph was approached by a group of Black Pullman porters who wanted 
the right to bargain for better wages and improvements in working 
conditions. They wanted to unionize. This was considered the first 
serious effort to unionize the Pullman Company. In retaliation, the 
company fired union members, put fear in the men by threatening them 
with tougher assignments, assignment cuts, or termination. However, to 
no avail. A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car 
Porters continued to fight for their right to unionize. In 1935, 12 
years after they started their fight against the Pullman Company, the 
American Federation of Labor reversed its previous position and voted 
to make them an international charter. Two years later, the Pullman 
Company agreed to sit down with the Brotherhood and they signed a 
contract. He then became heavily involved within the ranks of the AFL-
CIO, trying to build a mass movement by working with and through trade 
unions.
  The words and deeds of A. Philip Randolph show us the unyielding 
strength of his lifelong struggle for full human rights for African 
Americans and all the disinherited of the Nation. He believed that the 
condition of blacks in America were a symptom of a larger social 
illness, an illness which is caused by an unfair distribution of power, 
wealth, and resources. Mr. Randolph left a legacy of activism and 
triumph for all Americans to cherish. He fought long and hard to secure 
the rights of working class Americans regardless of race, color or 
creed. His life and legacy was based on the principle that ``Salvation 
for a race, nation or class must come from within. Freedom is never 
granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted and the 
struggle must be continuous for freedom is never a final fact, but a 
continuing evolving process to higher and higher social, economic, 
political and religious relationships.''
  A. Philip Randolph's position, whether an attitude toward the rights 
of workers to organize and collectively bargain for their terms and 
conditions of employment; or his anti-war stand, or a political 
position with an aim of economic change, has consistently reflected his 
socialist ideals. He has always believed in a movement based on the 
workers as the main force, and has always been committed to the idea 
that a democratic redistribution of wealth is the first step toward 
greater freedom for all people, Black as well as White. This is why I 
believe that Congress should support resolution H. Res. 179 expressing 
the sense of the House of Representatives that A. Philip Randolph 
should be recognized for his lifelong leadership and work to end 
discrimination and secure equal employment and labor opportunities for 
all Americans.

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