Where I Stand — Dr. William H. Bailey: A highlight moment

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 1999 | 8:47 a.m.

Editor's note: In August, Where I Stand is written by guest columnists. Dr. William H. "Bob" Bailey is today's guest. As a singer, he toured with Count Basie and his orchestra. As a Las Vegas entertainer, Bailey emceed a show at the Moulin Rouge, produced the country's first TV variety show featuring an entirely black cast and crew, and became the city's first black disc jockey as he hosted a radio show on KENO. As a businessman, he owned the Golden West Shopping Center (which later became Nucleus Plaza) and opened the Pan Afro Auditorium there, which became a place for community meetings and shows by the likes of B.B. King, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong. A lifelong fighter for civil rights, he was appointed in 1962 as the first chairman of the Nevada Equal Rights Commission. A decade later he became the president of the Nevada Economic Development Co., which helped struggling minority-owned businesses. In 1990 he received a presidential appointment as director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's minority business development program. He was honored by the 1999 Legislature and today writes what time did not permit him to speak before that body.

MY WIFE, ANNA, and I were recently honored by the Nevada Legislature for our community contributions over the past 44 years in Nevada.

This was a highlight moment in our lives. To know that someone appreciated your efforts is greatly rewarding. I had prepared this response, but time precluded my being able to read it from the floor of the Legislature so I will share it here.

"First, giving thanks to God for this assembly, I find myself humbled with gratitude for the honor you have bestowed upon me today. The recognition of my accomplishments must be shared with my family and the many constituents, both black and white, male and female, who throughout the years have believed in equality of opportunity and the freedom for an individual to achieve to their full potential in this great state of Nevada. This continues to be my dream.

"We still have a way to go, but we have come a long way from the phrase for Nevada that I coined some 40 years ago, 'The Mississippi of the West.' This title was most appropriate for that time period. I guess this is one of the main reasons I will hold dear to this honor you give me today.

"When I first came up to Carson City during the 1950s to lobby for civil rights legislation, our delegation could not find a restaurant that would serve us or a motel that would house us. After the long drive from Las Vegas, we had to freshen ourselves up in the restrooms of the old Capitol building and eat from lunch boxes sent by the Holiness Church in Reno.

"But as I look back on it, that was a small price to pay to bring to the attention of the legislators the plight of African-American citizens in this state.

"Unfortunately, the legislation did not pass at that time. Less than a decade later, however, in the early '60s, I found myself serving as the chairman of the Equal Rights Commission by the appointment of a governor who was sensitive to the needs of all Nevadans, Gov. Grant Sawyer.

"Gov. Sawyer signed into law legislation passed by the Legislature that mirrored the guarantees afforded all citizens under the Constitution of these United States. That legislation became the bedrock for further legislative guarantees on housing, education, gender protection and now gay rights.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as Nevadans we can be proud of our progress, but let us not allow our progress to lull us back into apathy, for there is still much work to be done to fully achieve our goals of individual and collective freedoms along with emphasis on strong family ties.

"Permit me to thank my wife, Anna, for her love and support for the past 48 years, my son John, an attorney with Lionel & Sawyer, who I am so very proud of and who sired three grandchildren for me, my talented daughter, Kimberly, whose innovative leadership has inspired many young entrepreneurs to get into business through the Micro Business program for the Economic Opportunity Board and who gave me two grandchildren, one just 2 weeks old.

"To my sponsor, Wendell Williams, and the members of this 1999 legislative body, I thank you for remembering me and ask you to remember that it took people from all walks of life to bring us to where we are today. Please consider our contributions to be a benchmark upon which you may build a new and a greater Nevada for the 21st century.

"In closing I share with you that I am appalled at the resurgence of racism in our country. Racism in young students, some of whom will become leaders in the 21st century. I had hoped that overt racism would wither with the demise of the "old school" bigots. However, I guess they left their footprints for the next generation to walk in.

"But I've got news for you. As we have seen in the past, in the new millennium the sands of time will reveal that we continued to progress toward making this one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all."