[Music]
Hello. I am Sam Harben. My story begins
May 17, 1954. On that very important date
in American history the US Supreme Court
decreed that a state law which required
school children to be educated in
separate facilities based on their race
was inherently unconstitutional. I was in
a history class on that date when our
teacher announced to us the decision of
the court. We asked our teacher, "What does
that decision mean for us?" and I will
never forget his words. He said it means
you will have to go to school with
Negroes. He didn't pronounce the word
"Negroes" the way I am pronouncing it. I
was dismayed by the reaction of my
classmates and many of my teachers as
well. There were expressions of outrage, of
anger, resistance, even racial slurs were
uttered and there was a lot
of fear and anxiety as well. Seven years
later, I was a student at the University
of Georgia in my last semester in law
school. That was the time that two very
brave students - two African American
students - were admitted to the university
on court order and became the first
African American students at the
University of Georgia. I had hoped that
they would be greeted respectfully and
even with open arms. But unfortunately
they were met with riots, with protests
both from students at the university and
from non-students as well who came to
the university to participate in that
very shameful part of our history. After
graduating from law school I had the
opportunity to work
or to volunteer with the ACLU to
represent some individuals whose civil
rights had been violated. I saw a lot of
progress at that time. I felt that we
were on our way to a better society. In
fact the University of Georgia now has
an academic building that houses
the admissions office and is named for
Charlene Hunter, now Charlene Hunter
Gault, and Hamilton Holmes, those two
students who became our first
African-American students. And at my high
school, the drive that enters from the
high school is named Deshaun Watson
Drive in honor of Deshaun Watson, who
is a proud graduate of Gainesville
High School and was the outstanding
quarterback college quarterback and now
in the NFL. So I've seen a lot of
progress and I have but I know that
there's a lot more progress to be made.
We are a long ways away from a fully
integrated society where everyone's
rights and privileges are acknowledged.
So it was an honor to be a witness to
history and to be a small part of it as
well. Thank you.
[Music]
