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“THE MEMORY OF ROSCOE R. NIX” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E53-E54 on Jan. 23, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE MEMORY OF ROSCOE R. NIX
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HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Monday, January 23, 2012
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, it is with sadness that I advise my colleagues of the death on January 4, 2012 of my constituent, civil rights leader and education activist, Roscoe R. Nix. Roscoe Nix was an inspirational giant in the Montgomery County, Maryland community where he was known for his wisdom, his kind and caring manner, and his fierce dedication to social and educational equality for all Americans. Mr. Nix worked passionately for decades as a leading civil rights activist, drawing attention to racial inequalities throughout our country.
Roscoe Russa Nix was born June 22, 1921, in Greenville, Alabama, the second of nine children and the son of the only black postman in town. Mr. Nix attended Alabama A&M University but left to serve in the Army in Europe during World War II. After his military service, he settled in the Washington area and graduated from Howard University. He moved to Montgomery County in 1968 where he resided until 2010 when, for health reasons, he moved near his daughter in Riverdale, Georgia.
Growing up in segregated Alabama, Roscoe Nix had firsthand experience with Jim Crow laws and the injustice of institutionalized racism. After moving to the Washington, DC area, Mr. Nix observed that northern states were more likely to have simply overlooked their own records of discrimination. He recalled being refused service at a Silver Spring, Maryland restaurant in 1962 and the demonstration he staged in response. Moments like this defined his career and inspired him to work for change.
During our Nation's post-segregation era, Mr. Nix worked for the U.S. Justice Department's Community Relations Service, traveling around the country as a ``peacemaker'' to work with local leaders on conflict resolution in cities experiencing civil unrest.
For decades, Mr. Nix was a leader in public education in Montgomery County. In 1974, he was the second African American elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education where he fought against de facto school segregation. As a member of the Board until 1978 and then afterwards, he pushed for greater resources for schools in poorer neighborhoods and spoke out about racial disparities in the schools. Mr. Nix was a champion for early childhood initiatives and fought for increased funding of Head Start and Title 1 and for lower class size in the elementary grades. In 2006, the Montgomery County Board of Education dedicated the Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring in recognition of his contributions to the public education of the children in the county.
In 1989, Mr. Nix co-founded the Montgomery County African American Festival of Academic Excellence. This annual event recognizes, encourages and celebrates African American students for their academic achievements and reinforces the idea that it is ``cool'' to be smart.
Serving as President of the Montgomery County chapter of the NAACP from 1980-90, Roscoe Nix spoke out against police mistreatment of minorities and worked to increase the number of African American officers on the police force.
In 2001, Mr. Nix was inducted into the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame. After receiving the honor, he said, ``So much of what Montgomery County is today is because of struggle. . . . It's hard, especially for young people, to remember how we got where we are today.'' He noted, ``Blessings come to people through someone else's help or through some unknown entity. Because of that, it is our obligation to use whatever it is that one of us has to help those who are less fortunate or who may be afraid to speak for themselves.'' These guiding words and the legacy and achievements of Roscoe R. Nix will live on in Montgomery County, in Maryland, and across our Nation.
I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to this extraordinary American and in offering our condolences to Mr. Nix's wife of 59 years, Emma Coble Nix; his two daughters, Veretta Nix and Susan Webster; his sister, Anita Jackson; his three brothers, Crispus Carey Nix, Pettis Nix and Comer Nix; and his three grandchildren.
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