One of the characteristics of a hero is the putting of the public good before
personal gain. Today's hero has that quality and many more.

My admiration and appreciation of Walter White (1893-1945) and his work as a
civil rights activist and champion of the rights of African American people
began when I was a freshman at Tillotson College.

Kenneth Jansen, historian, said that "Walter White was one of the most 
important civil rights leaders of the twentieth century."

The blond, blue-eyed Walter was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He could have easily 
"passed" as white and escaped many of the political, economic and social 
injustices that African Americans and others experienced during that era.

His career began when he "organized a protest against the Atlanta Board of 
Education's plan to drop the seventh grade for black students in order to 
finance the building of a new white high school." He founded the Atlanta 
chapter of the NAACP, and in 1931 became the executive secretary of NAACP, the
highest office in the organization, and brought it into national prominence. As 
leader of the NAACP, he led the fight for anti-lynch legislation, major legal 
campaigns to end white primaries, poll taxes and segregated housing and 
education.

"With A. Phillip Randolph, he persuaded Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue an 
executive order in 191 prohibiting racial discrimination in defense industries 
and establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission. His book, A Rising 
Wind, which exposed discrimination that black solders faced, influenced 
President Harry Truman's order to end segregation of the armed forces. He also
persuaded President Truman to appoint a committee on civil rights.

Although White primarily focused upon improving the rights of African 
Americans, he recognized the international of the implications of the race 
issue and devoted time and effort to them.

In addition to his active and busy schedule, White found time to write books in
addition to raising a family. He was quite a man!