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U.S. House’s majority whip helps local Urban League mark 80 years
By Elise Franco
Liberty
One of the highest-ranking Democrats in the House of Representatives joined 400 others to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Greater Warren-Youngstown Urban League.
U.S. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the House majority whip, spoke at Thursday night’s annual dinner at the MetroPlex Conference Center in Liberty.
Thomas Conley, league president and CEO, said Clyburn’s message is one that everyone in the Mahoning Valley needs to hear.
“Our theme is honoring tradition and building the future,” Conley said.
He said the congressman fits in with that theme.
Rep. Robert Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, said the fact that someone of Clyburn’s significance selected the Valley is, in itself, important.
“That significance is something that should not ever be overlooked,” he said. “That someone in his position joined us in this community to learn about our problems and help us. ... It’s a true honor to have a man of his history grace our area.”
Clyburn spoke of the civil-rights movement and how it is still alive today.
“I’m very involved,” he said. “I’ve grown up into this, grown up watching the evolution of it.”
Clyburn compared the movement to a portion of the Preamble to the Constitution that states “... in order to build a more perfect union. ...”
“They recognized the fact that we’re not a perfect union and will never be a perfect union,” he said. “The civil-rights movement is the same way.” The movement may not look the way it did back in the 1960s, Clyburn said, but that’s because it has evolved with the times.
“It’s an evolution process, and that goes with all living experiences,” he said. “We address these issues of [health care] every day, and I would describe that as the Civil Rights Act of the 21st century.”
The congressman said though some disagree with the health-care bill, he thinks people eventually will understand that it was for the best.
“These are big things that have been facing us for a long, long time,” he said.
Clyburn said he was glad to speak at Thursday night’s event and has known every president of the National Urban League since Whitney Young in 1961.
“I recognize and respect the Urban League, and I believe in what they do,” he said.