CHAPTER 1
THE DECISION
As I gazed at the sheen on the surface of the water, my mind flashedback to the words of the greatly admired, silvery-haired, smoothSouthern-speaking professor of Speech Communications at the Universityof North Carolina in Chapel Hill: "If you attain your law degree andbecome a successful lawyer, all doors will be open to you and no racialfactor will deter you from your goals; you will possess instant credibilityin most households."
This reassuring reflection was punctuated seemingly by a screamingseagull diving into the serene, turquoise waters of the Cape Fear Rivera few feet in front of me. The calm current of this narrow section of theriver barely created a tremor on the floating section of the dock on whichI was standing. Even the tugboat about 100 yards away barely causeda discernible ripple to reach the shore. The stark beauty of the momentbelied the intense, tumultuous skirmishes, which had transpired here inthe past and provided no clue of the unfathomable events to emerge inthe ensuing weeks. One fact was certain, however, I knew I had made thedecision to run for Congress in this southeastern area of North Carolina.
The seductive promise of this opportunity and my heightened,unbridled optimism about the prospects for success was tempered bythe realization that this was the same region of eastern North Carolinawhich had been plagued by racial strife throughout its storied history. Ireminded myself what the 20th Century philosopher, George Santayanaonce expressed: "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed torepeat it." Nevertheless, I felt an exhilarating sense of hope, excitementand expectation because I trusted that the contemporary reasonableperson would give good-faith consideration to my message.
To enable the commencement of a campaign for this federal publicoffice, the best job I ever held must be relinquished. It was the type ofemployment which had allowed me to grow as a person, and I thought,gain credibility as a dedicated professional in the community. For nineyears, I had successfully directed an anti-poverty program and engagedin or initiated a raft of innovative community enhancement projects.Every dime (allocated to the program or garnered through extensivefund-raising efforts) was appropriately and conscientiously utilized. Theorganization grew a reputation of sterling integrity. This poverty-fightingprogram itself was a component of a network known as Legal Servicesa.k.a. "Legal Aid" which provides free civil legal services to the poor andeconomically disadvantaged.
During my tenure as Director of this seven-county Legal Servicesoffice, we had achieved some truly remarkable results. This job, in myopinion, was the poetic, substantive response to a comprehensive,external, systematic social condition which did not necessarily have thebest interests of poor people in mind. The directorial authority of thisposition had afforded me the discretion to marshal resources to target andrectify some of the residual inequities, many of which existed for multiplegenerations.
While practicing law in this capacity, me and my colleaguesrepresented the poor and otherwise disenfranchised people in their day—to-daysurvival needs, and gave them access to the courts and the muchneeded chance to win on some major law reform issues. Our effortsextended beyond the 9 to 5 working parameters. Along with communityvolunteers and a diverse, capable staff, we constructed 79 units of housingfor the elderly and handicapped in collaboration with the local CatholicChurch; I personally chaired a fundraising committee which purchasedand helped to revitalize an old 84,000 square foot inner city school foruse as a community center or hub for recreation, health care screening,computer training and for exposure to youth and senior activities; I servedas the organizing technical advisor when we founded a CommunityDevelopment Corporation which facilitated low-interest financing andbuilt single-family homes, while conceiving and constructing a thrivingbusiness incubator (which consisted of twelve 1,500 square feet, businesscondo units); our legal staff thwarted the re-segregation of the publicschools and undertook successful voting rights redistricting cases—openingthe electoral process to sizeable numbers of freedom lovingpatriots who had not enjoyed the real effect of the full panoply of theirrights as citizens (e.g. the opportunity for minorities in Columbus toelect candidates or be elected themselves to public office for the firsttime in one hundred and thirty-two years). As Attorney Director, I couldexercise authority and legal persuasion to raise public consciousnessand rally public opinion to confront, if not pro actively attack from alegal vantage, serious systemic disparities. Was I going to relinquish thisessential tool, and the best professional leverage I ever had, for a politicalpipedream? What would become of the organization upon my departure?More personally, what would happen to my family financially if I fail?Politically speaking, had the past accomplishments of the program undermy leadership actually catapulted me into a zone of credibility for provencompetence or conversely, did it create enmity with those who routinelyvote against and have philosophically opposed the very work that I hadundertaken? In order to win the campaign, my analysis must be trueand accurate. In an ironic way, I felt fortunate to be able to have theluxury of thought about such a dilemma. The conventional, antitheticalsociological forces had not destroyed my confidence, my vision of thefuture or sense of justice. Neither did they intimidate me or impair myhealthy self-image. So what if I lose? If I were to fail in my effort to runfor U.S. Congress in southeastern North Carolina, I would continue towork hard, in whatever capacity the Lord encouraged me to pursue. As Ibecame prone to express on the campaign trail, "Day will follow night,birds will stay in flight, and this young man will be alright ..." Indeed,the potential prospect of failure left me undaunted when I pondered thememorable quote from Michelangelo: "The great tragedy of life is not thatpeople set their sights too high and fail to achieve their goals but they settheir sights too low and do."
I was no stranger to hard work. Given that I had been reared inLumberton, in southeastern North Carolina, I understood the valueof the dollar and the immeasurable quality of the job that I wouldimminently be surrendering. In my first job, at age ten, I worked fulldays at the tobacco barn "handing" that leafy crop to the "stringer."At age twelve, I had cropped tobacco (i.e., walked and stripped thetobacco leaves from the stalk and loaded them into containers pulledby the mules or tractors) from dawn to dusk. The pay was $6.00 perday which frequently included hanging tobacco in the barn late into theevening. Yes, I was cognizant of the financial dimensions and worst caseconsequences of the decision to resign my job and engage in politicalwelfare.
My previous personal experience running for public office was limitedto one statewide effort.
Four years earlier, at age 37, I had filed, campaigned hard andfinished third in a five-man race in the Democratic party primary of thecontest for Governor of North Carolina. The former two-term Governor,at that time running for his third term in office, prevailed again. Theincumbent multiple term Attorney General trailed in second place.Fourth place was inhabited by a former Speaker of the North CarolinaHouse of Representatives. (Incidentally, the winner had made his initialsuccessful run when he was 37 years old). I had performed well eventhough the media uniformly described my campaign as having "nochance" or characterized my attempt as being quixotic. Most people inthe audiences thought I had won many of the debates. The essential issueswere quite clear and I was very conversant and confident due to my day-to-dayinteraction with the survival issues of low income working peopleand continuous advocacy on their behalf. Most importantly, at that timeI had filed to run for the correct reason. I simply desired, in an untaintedand uncompromised fashion, to help improve living conditions andenhance the fundamental quality of life for the people of my home state.
Such a desire and commitment was even more compelling this time,especially with respect to trying to redress the specific dire needs whichhad worsened for many of the people who reside in the eight countiesthat comprise the Seventh U.S. Congressional District. The economyof the District is a study in contrasts. Some of the people possess greatopulence and ostentatious wealth, particularly the owners in those housesand heavenly havens of the two-hundred mile stretch of oceanfront.Similarly, the commercial waterfront areas were well appointed, often viathe public's tax dollars. On the other hand, the neighborhoods of the lowincome and elderly were deteriorated and blighted. Some citizens couldbarely scrape together enough to ride the bus or purchase a newspaper.It was imperative to enable economic opportunity and developmentto prosper throughout all of the sectors. Having had substantialexperience in facilitating the formation of several successful public/private partnership ventures and having been reared in the District, Ibelieved that I had acquired the insight, required range of skills and highmotivation necessary to precipitate positive change.
I was not a novice to the dynamics of political interaction. Quitethe contrary, I had been an impresario of student politics. Service asStudent Body President at the University of North Carolina in ChapelHill had broadened my horizons about working and collaborating withpeople. Highlights of that administration, among other attainmentsincluded: The implementation of a revamped, streamlined, uni-camerallegislature, entitled the Campus Governing Council (which continuesto operate today); the creation of a student health service ombudspersonto assure quality of clinical health care for students and to provide agrievance mechanism; the convening of an informative colloquiumon Individual Rights and Liberties which featured such luminaries asfamed criminal defense attorney William Kuntzler, Esq., Rev. RalphAbernathy, Pennsylvania Congressman Hugh Scott, Wisconsin SenatorEugene McCarthy, ERA proponent Congresswoman Martha Griffith,Georgia Congressman Julian Bond and activist/professor Angela Davis(NOTE: Ultra conservative students countered by inviting KlansmanDavid Duke); the successful introduction of mass transit throughout theCampus in conjunction with the City Government of Chapel Hill; andthe visionary application for the UNC-FM radio station.
That experience prepared me for service as Student Body Presidentat the University of Minnesota Law School where the issues includedcurriculum development; maintenance of profitability of student stores;oversight of student disciplinary procedures, space and computer use forstudent organizations in the new, state-of-the-art law school edifice; andthe adroit anticipation of other more sophisticated, time intensive matters,such as proposed amendments to the grading of the Minnesota Bar exam.
The foundation for this political interest and energy had beencultivated very early during my tenure as Student Body President atLumberton High School—it was a first ballot victory in the first electionever conducted after the consolidation of the historically, racially-segregatedLumberton city schools. Our student efforts for promotingracial harmony were recognized pictorially in the March 23, 1971 editionof LOOK Magazine when it announced Lumberton, North Carolina asan All-American City.
I innately felt prepared to handle the rigors of any debate of issuesduring the campaign and to serve the Seventh District as a workingcrusader for progress. My wife was ambivalent to the initiation of thiscampaign. As a totally apolitical individual, she would much preferhaving me around the house. Of course, she would relent, accept andsupport my decision to pursue my purposeful, political quest. Giventhat she had served for six years as an Assistant District Attorney, I wassensitive to trying to avoid exposing her to any more personal securityrisks than she had already encountered while prosecuting criminals.
My small circle of advisors made me cognizant, through theirindividual reiterations that the omnipresent issue of race would haveto be addressed. My adopted strategy would be to minimize it by notmentioning it at any appearance or media engagement. Two reasonsprompted this position. First, I believed that this contemporary society isintelligent enough to perceive and comprehend my personal philosophicaltruth regarding race. IT DOES NOT MATTER! I trusted the naturalpsychological cleansing and presumed attitude growth process inherent inthe passing of multiple generations. Time alone should have diffused orsufficiently attenuated the antiquated, hardened notions about race. Eventhe vitriolic, if not threatening, correspondence that I received during mycampaign for Governor had no effect on my core belief.
In this information age, surely there are more salient issues andrelevant qualifications to be gleaned than the mere race of a person.Finally, I genuinely felt that those (my advisors excluded) who constantlytrumpeted the race issue were usually trying to leverage it for self-aggrandizement,invidious political purpose or economic gain.
My life experience educated me to the fact that the capitalisticsystem treats people who are poor or impecunious the same way—withcontempt. If, collectively, the economically disadvantaged couldobjectively dismiss the racial element from their overall analysis, thenthey could see clearly that a significant measure of their oppression isgenerated by that group of people who profit from divisions among themand those others who are struggling for financial survival. Workingtogether and voting together could uplift their shared standards ofcommunity and drastically improve the quality of the lives of all whoare on the economic margin. Of course, that may constitute a threat tothose who are stockpiling citadels of wealth and continuously seeking toprovoke tensions among members of the lower classes for the purpose ofpreserving their own aristocratic or political standing. I could explain thatpoor whites hating blacks won't transform the poor whites into wealthyaristocrats. Poor blacks hating poor whites won't help disgorge the wealthand power from those who use that influence in a discriminatory fashion.Nor would such hatred uplift anyone from poverty. These precepts areapplicable to all races, not just black and white.
Second, it is not in my nature to focus on race, because up until thatjuncture or age, most aspects and blessings of my life were unrelated tocolor. As a child growing up on a farm in Southeastern North Carolina,I developed in my mind's eye an internal family which was, for the mostpart, impervious to making distinctions or drawing conclusions based ona person's race. In the first six years of my life I never directly perceivedof bigotry and hatred premised on race. Internally, we had a loving andbalanced family, albeit highly competitive among the five living children.A sixth sibling had died early in life and this fact may have motivated ourparents to be more sensitive in fashioning a loving environment. I knowit made me want to compensate for his loss by making my parents proudof me.
Tom Sawyer would have envied the early childhood experience thatI had. My brother and I explored the seemingly untamed back acreageof our farm with its massive, verdant woods, and large trees and thebabbling creeks. We called those special adventurous moments our escapetime. Normal free time afforded all five of us the opportunity to play ona small merry-go-round, a "monkey climber" or with a basketball hoopin our backyard. Often, neighboring kids of all colors visited and playeduntil dusk or until one of our dogs broke out of the pen. Otherwise, eachchild had duties and responsibilities from washing and drying dishes tomowing lawns or even serving as the apprentice to Dad in his myriadendeavors—such as brick masonry, painting and auto mechanics. All ofmy (three) sisters were taught piano and organ. My brother and I becamevarsity jocks with part-time jobs, especially at grocery stores. Theseoutside jobs were imperative, especially to us if we desired new clothes orgas and insurance for a car, the car itself, or to venture out on a date.
My parents, both now 77 years old, are truly two great Americantreasures. They instilled in us that we were no better or less than anyoneelse. However, they made it clear that high expectations were to berealized by each of us according to our individual levels of aptitude.Given that both Sadie and Russell had attended Shaw University priorto their 53 years of marriage, a college education was the thresholdexpectation for each of the Williams kids. Mom was as attractive as Dadwas physically strong. As a second grade teacher, my Mom radiated anurturing, thoughtful and amiable nature, delightfully seasoned by hermusical brilliance. My Dad was the ultimate audio-visual technician/salesman and jack of all trades, who knew how to assure financial securityfor the family. Neither drank alcoholic beverages around us, althoughboth smoked cigarettes until they jointly quit in their early thirties.
