Extensions of Remarks 8459 Extensions of Remarks Dr

Extensions of Remarks 8459 Extensions of Remarks Dr

April 9, 1984 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 8459 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS DR. BENJAMIN ELIJAH MAYS I ask that editorials that appeared in discrimination, about its obligations to the the Atlanta Constitution and the At­ poor." lanta Journal may be printed at this The same could be said about Benjamin HON. CHARLES McC. MATHIAS, JR. point in the RECORD together with an Mays. And he responded with courage, dig­ nity, wisdom, style-and effect. In his later OF MARYLAND article written by Msgr. Noel C. Bur­ years, Dr. Mays was a thin, frail-seeming IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES tenshaw for the Atlanta Journal and man, but he cast a huge shadow, and all of Constitution. us found refuge in its shade. One of the Monday, April 9, 1984 The editorials follow: giants is gone. e Mr. MATHIAS. Mr. President, [From the Atlanta Constitution, Mar. 29, public life is more than holding public 1984) [From the Atlanta Journal, Mar. 29, 19841 office and its impact may be much BENJAMIN MAYS: A GIANT Is GoNE BENJAMIN ELIJAH MAYS: AN INSPIRATION TO greater than the daily chores that it Benjamin Elijah Mays was an uncommon EVERYONE entails. No better illustration of this man. He will probably be best remembered He was a leader of leaders, a teacher of principle exists than the life of Dr. as the driving force behind Morehouse Col­ teachers. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called Benjamin Elijah Mays of Atlanta, GA. lege's remarkable climb to academic promi­ him "my spiritual mentor and intellectual His work as the president of a small, nence and as the mentor of civil-rights father." leader Martin Luther King Jr. A humanitarian, a thinker, an achiever, a predominantly black college and as But Dr. Mays was even more. In addition chairman of a local school board was non-violent civil rights activist who pro­ to being one of America's foremost educa­ claimed he would "never let race beat me useful, but his influence on the future, tors, he was an author, orator, humanitari­ down," Benjamin Elijah Mays deserves his the power of his example, and the an, a man of uncompromised integrity and a place in the forefront of American history. force of his teaching were immense. sterling example to his own and following Born the son of ex-slaves in 1895, he was He was a "witness" in the classic sense generations. He was an eloquent spokesman for the 19 before he could spend a full term in of that word. downtrodden and a man who believed school. He was 52 before he voted for the Andrew Young, mayor of Atlanta deeply in the dignity and worth of his first time. He was 60 by the time the U.S. and former Ambassador to the United fellow beings. He was simply a national Supreme Court had opened the way to slow Nations, expressed this quality in Dr. treasure and we-particularly Atlantans­ progress toward school desegregation. Mays when he said: are all the better because he lived and But he overcame the odds of his times. worked in our midst. For 26 years he was a tireless champion of Dr. Mays talked about the need to create Morehouse College, teaching and counseling an enormous black leadership in the nation. Mays fought his entire life for equality and justice for blacks, and he inspired gen­ America's black leaders: Julian Bond, May­ Thousands of his students are now giving nard Jackson, Judge Horace Ward, historian that leadership. Dr. Mays taught them their erations of disadvantaged young people to rise above lowly stations through education Lerone Bennett. At 76 he was elected Atlan­ sense of mission, their sense of direction, ta's first black school board president, their responsibility to "the least of these." and nonviolent political activism. He led by example. giving the city its "Atlanta Compromise" on The fact that Dr. Mays was the Born to former slaves in a tiny South the explosive school desegregation issue. He teacher who inspired Martin Luther Carolina town, Mays was 22 years old when remained on the board until age 83. King, Jr., is well known. Mayor Young, he was graduated from high school-but by "The achievements of the man would be who knew them both, said: age 45, he was president of Morehouse Col­ astonishing for anybody," Samuel DuBois lege, a position he held for 27 years. At 75, Cook wrote in prefacing Mays' autobiogra­ Dr. King used to say all the time that he when most people have already retired, Dr. phy. But his optimism in changing the awakened intellectually and spiritually lis­ Mays was elected to the Atlanta Board of South overshadowed all. tening to Dr. Mays preach in chapel. It was Education and became its first black presi­ "I used to not be able to sing Dixie," Mays Dr. Mays who started Martin Luther King dent. once said, "because Dixie represented every­ reading Gandhi. Dr. Mays dined with heads of state and thing that was evil to me about the South. But Martin Luther King, Jr., was gave advice to American presidents. But he Now I can sing Dixie." not the only student whose career was always deeply concerned about children Dr. Mays believed, truly believed, in the began as a student of Benjamin Mays and about the world they would inherit. His worth of the individual. "I used a very and came to national attention. The leadership during Atlanta's school desegre­ homely expression," he once said. "If you gation struggle of the early 1970s was solid wear a size 13 shoe, you don't go around names of Julian Bond and Maynard and wise. He is credited with, almost single­ moping the fact . It's your shoe. It's your Jackson come to mind, but only as rep­ handedly, keeping the school board from feet. You accept it. No man is free until he resentatives of a legion of remarkable splitting along racial lines. "People so re­ accepts what he is." citizens who changed a nation. spected him that they would never do any­ Benjamin E. Mays accepted what he was President Carter called Dr. Mays a thing to dishonor him," school attorney and made of himself an inspiration to gen­ monumental figure in the field of edu­ Warren Fortson once said. erations of leaders, black and white. He cation and social progress. As testimony to Dr. Mays' impact on his made of himself a free man and he helped Mrs. Mathias, who has been active in times, especially in the South, numerous countless others find freedom through the monuments to him already stand. The At­ pursuit of education and the renunciation the field of education, has had a enor­ lanta School Board suspended its policy of hatred. mous respect for him and admiration against naming facilities for the living, and His passing makes Atlanta a much poorer for his work. I join with her in mourn­ Benjamin E. Mays High School opened in city. ing the death of an American who was 1978. In Epworth, S.C., where whites once successful in making America better terrorized his family, an intersection was re­ [From the Atlanta Journal and for all of us by making it better for named Mays Crossroads. A portrait hangs in Constitution, Apr. 1, 1984) the most neglected and oppressed the South Carolina capitol. MAYS PLANTED SEEDS OF REVOLUTION IN Dr. Mays was called on to eulogize his pro­ among us. CHAPEL AT MOREHOUSE tege, slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther Dr. Mays was an Atlantan and spent King Jr., in 1968. He said, in part: "God <By Noel C. Burtenshaw> most of his adult life in Georgia, but called the grandson of a slave and said to Sedition was hatched in the chapel. we in Maryland salute him at his pass­ him, Martin Luther, speak to America about The revolution was sown on Tuesday ing because he was a citizen of the war and peace, speak to America about mornings in the chapel on the Morehouse world and a brother to us all. social justice, speak to America about racial campus. e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by the Member on the floor. 8460 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS April 9, 1984 Dr. Benjamin Mays, president of More­ to Phoenix <S.C.> to lynch Negroes. I re­ who first hired black police in Atlanta, and house, waded into injustice unmercifully in member knowing this is not right. I am a he will be remembered for it. They had to those chapel gatherings. The men of More­ person like them. I remember my father use the Butler Street 'Y' as their police sta­ house would go to the far ends of the telling us how he fought two white men at tion and they could not arrest whites. But it South, to the far ends of the nation. They one time. He knocked one down and then was a beginning." would even be found across the new nations took on the other. I felt good for him. The most exciting time for Benjamin of Africa. Always they would remember the "I remember there were two things blacks Mays during his long and varied life was the Tuesday morning chapel meetings. did not do. First was pass a white man on a Martin Luther King era. Freedom was "I spent half of my life," says the ever­ dusty road. Second was pass a white man on sensed. The dream of a lifetime was coming young minister and educator, "demonstrat­ a muddy road.

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