PRINTJim Leach Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities
Members of Congress, Freedom Riders, and all who admire the courage of those who in a trying historical moment brooked the establishment and disobeyed law in order to uplift the majesty of Constitutional governance:
We at NEH are privileged to work with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and the Congressional Black Caucus to screen this moving documentary that pays homage to a singular group of idealists who redefined the American political ethos.
The documentary is an example of the mission of the National Endowment for the Humanities which, in addition to advancing research in areas such as philosophy, history, and literature, is to support the production of films and exhibitions about important humanities topics.
The Freedom Riders documentary will be unveiled to the general public on PBS this May to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the rides, but it has already been reviewed at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the top award in the documentary category.
It was also screened in Tunisia this last winter, making one wonder whether Tunisians in their recent struggle to overturn a despot and advance democratic rights found any inspiration in civil disobedience on this side of the Atlantic.
America, as we all know, was founded with unprecedentedly high-minded but imperfectly implemented principles affirming that the rights of individuals precede and supersede the power of the state.
This film is the story of civil disobedience, how a group of individuals, disproportionately young and black, stood up both to forces of community prejudice and to a political establishment which was reluctant to put principle before politics.
In the end, the young unmasked hypocrisy and led their leaders. Americans had to come to grips with an understanding, startling to many, that for rights to be valid, the dignity of the individual could not be begrudged, nor could a fair crack at the American dream be denied any group of citizens.
This week marks the sesquicentennial of the Civil War’s commencement at Fort Sumter. In this historical context, NEH and the CBC are proud to help make better known to new generations of Americans the story of how barely more than 400 men and women risked their lives to help end a fundamental aspect of the war’s “Jim Crow” legacy.
Two of the Freedom Riders are now members of the People’s House—Rep. John Lewis of Georgia who was jailed after being savagely beaten and Rep. Bob Filner of California who was sentenced to sixty-one days in Mississippi’s Parchman Prison for a similar “crime” of conscience. You will hear from each a little later.
For the moment, I would only like to stress that one of the misapprehensions of public life is that legislators now and again make courageous votes. Actually, a legislator can be wise or foolish, conservative or liberal, trustworthy or otherwise. But bravery is never at issue in a legislative chamber—though now and again its opposite, cowardice, may be a term that applies to those whose only calculus relates to a re-election ethic.
The last courageous legislators in America were those who understood the risk they took when they pledged their lives and fortunes in support of a declaration crafted in Philadelphia over two centuries ago.
Since then, the penalty for a legislator standing for an unpopular cause is neither death nor deprivation. The consequence may be loss of an election, but that simply implies regaining freedom of movement and speech.
Defeat, after all, is liberating. It allows a former or would-be legislator the chance to recapture week-ends with family and resurrect the ability to shed false interest in a friend’s really dumb ideas.
As honorable an occupation as public service is, there is no higher rank than private citizen.
I note all this because tonight we honor the brave, a group of Freedom Riders, two of whom happen to have become legislators.
Now please join me in welcoming Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Having just toured Missouri, I can report that Rep. Cleaver is a well-regarded leader of his state and of the Congress. And now as chairman of the CBC, he is carving out a role as an important leader of the country.
Congressman Cleaver: …..
In introducing John Lewis let me simply note that historians have a modern tendency to underscore blemishes in great leaders. But they are going to have a disappointing time attempting to unearth any John Lewis foibles. John is consternating because as far as I know faults can’t be found. Sure, we can all disagree on a vote or two, but disagreements are matters of judgment at a time and place. Yet no one has ever challenged John’s values or unwavering moral compass. What distinguishes him from so many in public life is the constancy of his dignity, decency, and concern for others.
John, the podium is yours….
The Freedom Riders represented Americans of many backgrounds. Bob Filner came from a New York family with a deep commitment to civil rights and an understanding that rights curtailed for any group jeopardize rights for all. Unlike most parents who would have objected strenuously to a son or daughter taking on what they might have viewed as someone else’s fight, Bob’s mother and father were, I am told, totally supportive of their son’s decision to join the Freedom Rides. They knew what it meant when people of genteel society fail to stand up to those who spawn hate and manipulate prejudice.
Campus life at Cornell must have seemed all-consuming to most students, including Bob, but when he saw on television the burning of a bus, he decided he couldn’t remain a bystander to hate-driven violence. He had a part to play, one that has never ceased.
Please welcome Bob Filner: ….
One final introduction is in order. Would Carole Watson please stand.
As many know, various sit-ins preceded the Freedom Rides, but few are aware that the ground-breaking modern sit-in was in Wichita, Kansas, in 1957. Like the Freedom Rides, many in the black as well as white establishment advised against the proposal of a group of church-oriented youth to organize a sit-in at the soda-fountain of the principal downtown drug store where whites could sit at the counter but African Americans were only allowed to purchase an ice cream cone or malt at a back window.
The NAACP was approached at the national as well local levels. The elders said don’t do it. They objected, perhaps because of innate conservative instincts, perhaps out of fear for the safety of the young, who in this case were mainly local high school students.
One young teenager who brooked the establishment and took her turn sitting with her contagious smile at the soda counter was Dr. Carole Watson, the current deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. After three weeks bringing business to a standstill, the owner gave in and a message of freedom was sent throughout the Midwest.
After balking at the original idea, the NAACP the following year honored the Kansas City youth at its annual convention. It was a fairy tale ending. The young had revealed to all that the Statute of Liberty was insufficiently lit. Its beacon needed to illumine freedom and opportunity not only for those just arriving on our shores but those across the great American landscape whose ancestors came in chains on slave ships from Africa.
Carole, take a bow. We thank you for your prescience and your courage.