Chief Justice Tells Students to Dream, Seize Opportunities
By Matt Pederson/Staff Writer
The Huntsville Item
 |
| Lu Ellen Gibbs, who sponsors the President's
Speaker Series, visits with Texas Supreme Court Chief
Justice Wallace Jefferson following Jefferson's Tuesday
speech. |
In 2001, Wallace Jefferson became the first black man appointed
to the Texas Supreme Court, and recently became the first black
man chosen to serve as the court's chief justice.
Tuesday morning, he was on the Sam Houston State University
campus, speaking to the university community, as well as a number
of Huntsville residents.
"I love to speak to students, whether it is high school,
middle school, college, or graduate, to talk about the possibilities
in this nation to succeed in whatever you choose to do,"
Jefferson said at the opening of his speech.
The theme in Jefferson's speech Tuesday was the opportunities
available to all Americans who do not let go of their dreams.
He used himself as an example.
Jefferson said from his earliest childhood memories, he believed
the color of his skin would not be a factor in where he went
in life. Jefferson's father was an officer at an Air Force base
in San Antonio, and what Jefferson saw was his father being
treated with respect from soldiers of all races.
"When I was 5 or 6 years old, I would watch my father approach
the guard station," Jefferson said. "That guard would
look at the front bumper and there as an insignia on that bumper
that would let the guard know that an officer was coming on
the base.
"Among my earliest memories was that guard, whether he
was black, white or hispanic, would stand at attention and give
my father a sharp salute. So even before I matured in this world
and began to understand some of the complexities involved before
my birth, I held a firm conviction that a man's race is not
a barrier to success or to earning the respect of one's peers."
When he was asked in 2001 to be a part of the supreme court,
he was a lawyer working with civil appeals.
During his time as a lawyer, Jefferson earned a rare distinction
when he successfully argued two separate cases in front of the
United States Supreme Court. His first one took place on election
day in 1996, and it turned out to be a day he will never forget.
"I argued that case in the morning and in the evening watched
the election results with family and friends. And after that
my wife and I and my brother decided to go to the Lincoln Memorial,
and I had never been there. We walked to the Lincoln Memorial
and there's Abraham Lincoln. It's pitch black at night, but
he's bathed in those white night lights as we are climbing the
steps.
"And I'm thinking to myself as I'm going up these stairs,
'I don't know if he ever would have imagined that one day, an
African-American lawyer who is a descendent of slaves, would
appear before the United States Supreme Court.'"
What amazes Jefferson the most about not only the state of Texas,
but the entire country, is the amount of progress that has been
made.
Whether things continue to change or not, what would make Jefferson
the happiest is to have the generations after him get the same
opportunities that are available today.
"The times have drastically changed in such a short span
of time," Jefferson said. "It is my hope and desire
that one day my great great great grandsons or granddaughters
can look at the examples of today and decide for themselves
that there is nothing that can stop them from succeeding in
this great country, this great land of ours."
- END -
Matt Pederson can be reached at 936.295.5407
ext. 3023 or by e-mail.
SHSU Media Contact: Frank
Krystyniak
March 2, 2005
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
|
