For More Information:
NEA Communications: 202 822-7200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2003

News Release

NEA Honors Pioneering Educators Who Desegregated Teachers' Unions  

First Ever Sankofa Award to Honor African-American executives instrumental in landmark NEA, ATA merger

Washington, D.C. - Elliott Palmer, Joe Reed, and Horace Tate, three educators who were instrumental in the trailblazing 1966 merger between the all black American Teachers Association (ATA) and the National Education Association (NEA), will be honored by the NEA with the first ever Sankofa Award on July 2 in New Orleans. The award will be presented during the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Dinner, a key part of the 2003 NEA Annual Meeting running July 1-6.

Sankofa, an Akan (Ghanaian) word that literally means "return and get it," was chosen because it signifies that African-Americans must reclaim their past in order to move forward, understanding why and how they came to be who they are today.  This special award best captures the steadfast commitment of Palmer, Reed, and Tate for the creation of something that has endured-two national associations merged into one.

Palmer, a native of Durham, N.C., has dedicated his life to promoting racial equality. He is credited with having entered into the courts more lawsuits challenging desegregation laws and protecting the rights of educators than any single person in history. In his early years as executive director of the North Carolina Teachers Association (NCTA), Palmer fought to desegregate the schools in his home state, in compliance with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas ruling.  He also led the fight to protect the rights of educators while spearheading desegregation efforts throughout the United States and developed guidelines for integrating more black history into standard school textbooks.  During the 1966 ATA-NEA merger, Palmer was instrumental in shepherding the negotiations to success. Along with his wife Juanita, Palmer is also being honored this year with the 2003 Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award for co-founding the African American Cultural Complex, a treasure trove of Black Americana and educational programming in North Carolina.

As a native of Evergreen, Alabama, Joe Reed experienced firsthand the inequities of a "separate but unequal" educational system.  From having to walk six miles each day to get to his segregated school to learning from hand-me-down textbooks, Reed's motto became "there is nothing politically right that is morally wrong," and it has governed his life. At Alabama State University, Reed served as student body president and was active in student sit-in movements for civil rights and racial equality. He went on to serve as the associate executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association, where he proved a key force in uniting NEA and ATA. Since then, he has initiated legal action that successfully challenged discrimination in the appointment of blacks as poll officials, served as a member of the Montgomery, Alabama City Council for 24 years, and pushed through redistricting legislation that has increased black representation in Alabama's legislature and school districts.

The third award recipient, Horace Tate, carried the mantle for equality in education as a public school principal in Atlanta, as a state lawmaker, and as an NEA officer who knew when to fight and when to make peace.  Despite the personal danger, Tate challenged the segregationist policies and practices imposed by Jim Crow laws in the 1950s and proved to be a tough fighter who never accepted things as they simply were.  He was not above cooperation, however, and it was he who led the effort to unite the separate black and white Georgia Education Associations.  Proposing creative solutions to difficult problems, Tate succeeded in bringing the two strong organizations together as one entity under the name Georgia Association of Educators.  He used these same skills at the negotiating table to aid the merger between the NEA and the ATA.  Tate passed away in November 2002. His widow, Virginia, will accept the Sankofa Award on his behalf. 

# # #
The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.