Famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray shares stories with campers
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Young people can make a difference in the world.
Students attending the 2015 Institute for Law, Justice & Society’s law camp got the unique opportunity to learn from a legal legend how he played a role in changing the course of history at a young age.
History-making civil rights attorney Fred Gray stopped by campus June 11 to share his experiences at a special forum for the law campers, who came from as far away as Arizona, and members of the community.
“We want to show you the kind of lawyer, the kind of professional and the kind of person we hope you can be,” said Randy Spivey, assistant professor of law, justice and society and camp director.
Gray played a key role in landmark litigation that helped advance civil rights. He was 24-years-old and less than a year out of law school when he represented Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Montgomery, Ala., native was also Martin Luther King Jr.’s first civil rights lawyer. In his nearly 50-year legal career, Gray has represented numerous significant clients including Freedom Riders and Tuskegee Syphilis Study participants among many others.
Gray has been at the forefront of changing the social fabric of America regarding desegregation, integration, constitutional law, racial discrimination in voting, housing, education, jury service, farm subsidies, medicine and ethics and generally in improving the national judicial system.
“I’m particularly happy when I’m able to speak to young people,” Gray said. “When I was the age of these students I’d never heard of the idea of a law camp.”
“It was because of the problems I saw as a teenager, just a little older than you are today, that I saw the need for justice,” he told the campers. “I decided then that a lawyer should be able to make a difference. I went to law school, passed the bar, became a lawyer and destroyed everything segregated that I could find.”
Gray encouraged the campers to stand up for what they believe is right even though they are young.
“The entire history of civil rights would have been different if it weren’t for a 15-year-old girl named Claudette Colvin who refused to give up her seat,” he said. “So, if you see a wrong, I encourage you to decide to do what you can, discuss it with others and you just might start a movement.”
When Gray was asked by a student if he was ever afraid while working on such high profile cases, he said that fear never got in the way of doing what needed to be accomplished.
“I have been concerned about my safety from time-to-time,” Gray recalled. “But I did not let that concern keep me from doing what must be done. I didn’t really think about how young I was at the time either. I was willing to do anything, but deep in my mind I wanted to do something about Rosa Parks and the bus issue.”
Another camper asked Gray about the riots in Ferguson, Mo., last year, and if that was a step back for society.
“I think we have made tremendous progress as a country since the days of the civil rights movement,” he said. “We were able to remove all segregation laws at the time. Now, it doesn’t mean that all of the problems are solved, but we have to keep working with them. The most disappointing thing to me is that while we have changed the laws, the mindset of some people remains the same. It will take young people like you to continue to make positive change in our society.
“You can’t change it all with legislation. You can’t change everything by demonstrations. Sometimes people need to decide to do the right thing because it is just the right thing to do. Write your own story, because it you don’t someone else will write it for you.”
In 2012, Lipscomb awarded Gray an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Lipscomb University during the 32nd annual Thomas H. Olbricht Christian Scholars’ Conference