As a young African American man living in deeply segregated Montgomery, Ala., in the ‘40s, Fred Gray had two career options: teacher, or preacher, to people who looked like him.
But on May 9, 2014, as the guest speaker at the Chattanooga Bar Association’s annual Law Day observance, held at the Marriot at the Chattanooga Convention Center, Dr. Fred Gray received a standing ovation and nearly thunderous applause from hundreds of people who didn’t look like him.
Gray didn’t become a teacher, and while he became a preacher, he’s more famously known for his work as a civil rights attorney during the racially turbulent ‘50s, ‘60s, and onward. With a legendary client list that includes Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the participants of the Selma to Montgomery march, the victims of the Tuskegee syphillis experiment, and more, Gray held a large banquet hall full of attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals willingly captive with his stories of working to destroy segregation, and ultimately, racism, in the South.
“My first civil rights case involved the defense of a 15-year-old girl named Claudette Colvin, who on March 2nd, 1955 did the same thing Rosa Parks did on December 1st, 1955,” Gray said. “Claudette sat in a seat she’d sat in before, but that day, more whites than usual were on the bus as she was coming home from school. Some of them wanted her to get up, but she told them she had a teacher who told her she had a Constitutional right to sit there, and she didn’t get up. She was dragged off the bus and arrested, and I was called.
“Claudette gave us the moral courage to do what later became the Montgomery Bus Boycott. If she hadn’t done what she did on March 2nd, 1955, Rosa Parks might never have done what she did on December 1st, 1955. And if Rosa Parks hadn’t been arrested on December 1st, there would have been no trial on December 5th, there would have been no mass meeting at Hope Street Baptist Church on December 5th, and there would have been no introduction of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to the community. The whole civil rights movement would have gone differently if it hadn’t been for a 15-year-old girl.”
Turning to look at a table of young people to his right, Gray then said, “Don’t underestimate what you can do.”
While Gray’s presence at the podium and the rapt attention of those gathered to hear him speak bore witness to the progress made since the dawning days of the battle for civil rights, Gray said much work remains to be done.
“We have seen an increase in racism in recent years, including the burning of churches and the resurgence of hate groups.” Gray said. “What’s more, the Supreme Court, which for over a quarter of a century pioneered and protected the rights of minorities, last year declared unconstitutional a part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. We have also seen assaults on affirmative action and other programs used to end discrimination. The federal courts are not protecting the rights of minorities as they have in the past.”
Gray said the first step forward should be recognizing the existence of racism. “We have at least two generations of people who know nothing about white and colored waiting rooms and fountains. They don’t know about them, but they need to know about them.”
Once the nation recognizes the existence of racism, its leaders should say it’s wrong, Gray said. “The declaration needs to come from the top. The heads of our law firms, our institutions of higher learning, and our cities, counties, states, and nation need to come out with a loud voice.”
Gray said the second step should be devising a plan to end racism. “The Montgomery Bus Boycott didn’t start on its own; we had a plan,” he said. “We made it, introduced it to the community, and then implemented it. Don’t ask me what your plan should be, though. Nobody told us what to do when we needed to change things in Montgomery County.”
Gray did suggest greater diversity should be a part of any plan to end racism. “As I look over this audience, I don’t see a lot of people who look like me,” he said. “Sometimes, we don’t realize how little diversity exists. Look in your homes, places of worship, place of employment, professional organizations, and social clubs. If everyone looks like you racially, you might want to ask whether or not there’s a lack of diversity. As we grow, diversity is important.”
The question facing the nation, Gray said, is whether people will take action. “The struggle for equal justice under the law continues,” he said. “The challenge is whether we will continue to make gains, or lose the ones we’ve made. If we lose what we’ve gained, then Dr. King and the others who died for the protection of civil rights would have done so in vain.”
Gray said his speaking to the Chattanooga Bar on Law Day 2014 was a result of the efforts of Lynda Hood, executive director of the Bar, who first contacted him more than six months ago to secure him as the guest speaker. Knowing the theme would be “American Democracy and the Rule of Law: Why Every Vote Matters,” Gray believed his ruminations about the ongoing struggle to achieve equality would be relevant, so he said yes.
In closing, Gray called for those in the room to leave more committed to helping others than when they arrived. “Where do we go from here? If we are to survive as a people, we must lay aside bigotry and work toward the fulfillment of true democracy, and the preservation of freedom, equality, and justice for everyone.”