WCMessenger.com: Movie reminds us of those who fought for equality

Retirement provides more opportunity for two favorite pastimes, reading books and going to movies. Both of those resurrect memories, invoke comparisons and bring analysis of some human condition.

One fairly recent movie, The Great Debaters, did all of those things. In case you missed the movie or the publicity, it's a true story about a long ago debate team at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. The school's debate team predictably faced prejudice in 1930s Marshall but its coach, played by Denzel Washington, encouraged them to take on teams from larger, whiter schools. They did and beat Harvard in the process.

Washington, who also directed the movie, donated $1 million to Wiley College, thus some comparisons. Society today seems to revere celebrity. Most of the time the reverence is greatly displaced. In Washington's case, he never seems to be in the headlines for any of the bad things like Paris Hilton, Brittney Spears or Robert Downey Jr. Rather, he does worthwhile things like help Wiley College.

Then, there's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with their adoption of disadvantaged children and their advocacy on behalf of children worldwide. On top of that, Pitt has donated $5 million to replace poor folks' housing lost to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

The Great Debaters also resurrected some memories. Great debaters remind me of great voices and one of the best ever I was both privileged and cursed to follow to the podium almost 40 years ago.

But, drama and build-up, please.

In January 1968 my partner and I took over a weekly newspaper in Cleveland, Texas. I was to edit and publish the paper. Upon arrival, I found a "great debate" going on about the school district's court-ordered integration plan. They'd tentatively decided to totally integrate all grades and to utilize a school building in a section of town known, unfortunately, as The Quarters. In that first month, there was a school board meeting in which the plans would be finalized. As the meeting went on, every car owned by an African-American and parked outside the building was "decorated" with a sticker that said, "The Klan is watching you."

Everyone, black and white, was scared senseless. Most in authority just wanted the incident to go away. Since no one else would say or do anything about it, I called the FBI and they sent an agent to investigate. He told me what he'd found out about the Klan's presence and capabilities, including who he knew (but couldn't prove) produced the stickers and put them on the vehicles. Fortunately, there were no other Klan-related incidents, which I believe was due to his well-publicized presence and promise to return if there were more such activities.

Back to great voices, debaters and that podium.

Early that summer, I was invited to be a speaker at the annual Cleveland Juneteenth Celebration. It was more than just a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, it observed the official integration of that district's schools.

For reasons unknown or understood by a 31-year-old newspaper editor-publisher, I was chosen to speak in the "featured spot" at noon. I think that was an old habit hard to break by organizers of the celebration and the spot went to me because I was a white person of some standing in the community.

The person who preceded me to the podium was a name I vaguely recognized from Houston news reports. She was a champion debater at Texas Southern University and a law school graduate. It seems she'd just been elected to the Texas Senate and would be the first African-American woman to serve in that body.

When Barbara Jordan stepped to the podium and began speaking, I was mesmerized. Anyone who had heard her before or after that time can understand. I don't remember a word I said and I'm sure I stumbled and bumbled my way through. Jordan, predictably and understandably, got a rousing ovation and most of the crowd followed her off onto the fairgrounds when she finished.

She was, of course, elected to Congress, another milestone - the first African-American woman elected from the South to the U.S. House of Representatives. Jordan made a stirring speech in that body regarding the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

And anyone who was around at the time remembers her powerful keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1976. I wasn't surprised.

Willis Webb is a retired community editor-publisher of more than 50 years. He can be reached by email at wwebb@wildblue.net