Attorney Fred D. Gray On His Experiences in the Civil Rights Era and How to Make Social Change

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I was given the amazing opportunity of speaking with an important figure in black History. Fred D. Gray served as an attorney in Alabama, and found himself as the defender of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Here, he was able to speak on his experiences as someone who practiced law in a racially tense era.

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You currently live in Alabama. Are you from there?

FG: Yes. Tuskegee, Alabama.

And where did you attend school?

FG: Well, I was born in Montgomery and I attended elementary school in Montgomery. A public school, lovely school. It was on the west side of Montgomery. I attended high school at a church school in Nashville. It was the Nashville Christian Institute. And when I finished there, I came back to Montgomery and attended Alabama State. And I was enrolled from 1948-1951. It was Alabama State College for Negroes. It’s now Alabama University. I finished there in May of 1951. And in September of ‘51, I enrolled in what was Western Reserve University in Cleveland, now Case Western Reserve University School of Law. And I finished law school there in three years in June of 1954.

And how did you begin your career in the legal system?

I decided when I was in college. I lived on the west side of Montgomery, so I was going to school on the east side. We had to use the public transportation system to travel and that was for most African Americans in Montgomery in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. And I knew and observed a lot of problems that African Americans were having on buses, including one man who had an altercation on the bus and was killed as a result of it. We had a family friend who’s name was E.D. Nixon, who was the president of the Montgomery branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. And he was always looking to get lawyers to try to help solve problems that African Americans had. He talked with me about the possibility of becoming a lawyer, because I didn’t know any lawyers. And I concluded that lawyers helped individuals to solve their problems. I saw that African Americans in Montgomery had problems on buses so I made a commitment that I was going to finish at Alabama State, enroll in law school somewhere. Not even apply to some place in Alabama because I knew they wouldn’t accept me. But, I had to finish law school, take the Alabama bar, pass the bar exam, become a lawyer, and destroy everything segregated I could find. That was the commitment that I made when I was an upper teenager at Alabama State. After I finished in June of 1954, I stopped by Columbus, and took the Ohio bar. About a month later, I took the Alabama bar. And it was in August of 1954 that I had successfully passed both and on September 8, 1954, I was licensed to practice law in the state of Alabama. And I was in a position to start destroying everything segregated that I could find. And that’s what I’ve done the last 64 years.

Wow. So what’s been the most rewarding moment of your career?

FG: Well, I’ve been representing individuals in the Justice of the Peace court, all the way up to cases in the United States Supreme Court. You can read about all of them. I’ve done an autobiography. The name is Bus Ride to Justice by Fred Gray. NewSouth Books is the publisher. But there are many cases and I have handled. Many of them which helped begin the Civil Rights Movement. They helped to develop us to where we are now. But the most rewarding activities I’ve observed as a lawyer are probably two things. When I’m able to represent a person in court and I'm able to successfully obtain that person some right or some privilege, that they otherwise would not have obtained, but by my representing him. That’s an award. And I’ve had the privilege of not only serving as a lawyer, but I also served as a minister. I worked over young people for a period of time and I worked with many young people. Particularly young people in Montgomery. It was a very low economic area for African Americans and these kids didn't have much hope for being anything. But I worked with them over a period of 20 years and out of them came doctors and lawyers and persons who are now second in command of the Alabama Education Association. And when I can see young people who I’ve been able to encourage to do something, that is a reward for me.

You talked about encouraging young people. How do you feel about our current legal system, especially with the current climate of our race relations? It seems like a lot of young people are starting to be more outspoken about it.

FG: Well, I represented Rosa Parks. I was her first lawyer and I encouraged her to do what she did. I was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s. first lawyer in the Civil Rights movement. And I was able to work with Jo Ann Robinson and E.D. Nixon in the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott which later helped to encourage the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. What we did in those instances: we looked at the community, we looked at the problem, we discussed the issues, and then we came up with a plan on how we can go about solving them. We were able to help give many rights, including the right to vote as the result of the Voting Rights Act. Along with our work in the Selma to Montgomery March. But we use working together cooperatively in helping to solve those problems. So the problem we have now, whether it’s police brutality, whether it’s discrimination based, employment, healthcare or whatever they are, and whether you’re young or old, if you have problems, you need to look at those problems, discuss them with others and come up with a plan on how you can attack it. That’s the best legal advice you can give and who knows? You might be able to help solve your problems.

Thank you. As a college student, I know many of us need to hear that. But you’re still an attorney correct?

FG: Yes. I’m still a lawyer. We have a small law firm consisting of seven lawyers and we do some civil rights cases. And we also do just the general practice. That's what you do when you live in small towns. You do a little of everything.

Anything else you’d like to leave the public with?

FG: I just think that we’re now living at a time where African Americans have many of the advantages we did not have when I was coming along, but nobody is going to give you anything. If you’re going to be successful, do what I was told, and I’m the youngest of five children. One of them practices law in Cleveland too. His name is Thomas Gray. But we were told we can be anything we wanted to be as long as we kept Christ first in our lives, stay in school, get a good education, and stay out of trouble. Those are good basic things that I have tried to instill into my four children and to my grandchildren. And that can be the beginning of motivating you to let you know that regardless of what conditions you find yourself in, you don't have to remain in that condition, but you can educate yourself, stay out of trouble, be successful, and do well.