Statement by US Labor Secretary Perez on the passing of civil rights leader John Doar

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today issued the following statement following the death of civil rights lawyer John Doar:

"America has lost one of its bravest and boldest civil rights giants.

"Throughout the 20th century, wherever men and women sought equal justice under the law, wherever constitutional rights were under siege, wherever bigotry and discrimination threatened to prevail, John Doar was there. His steel spine and calming influence saw the nation through some of its most tumultuous moments.

"He personally escorted James Meredith as he desegregated the University of Mississippi in 1962. He singlehandedly prevented a riot in Jackson, Mississippi, following the murder of Medgar Evers. He joined the Freedom Riders and the marchers from Selma to Montgomery. He successfully prosecuted the murders of three young civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi. He also was chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee as it investigated the Watergate scandal.

"John Doar's service as assistant attorney general for civil rights in the 1960s set the bar that every one of us who followed him in that office sought to meet. Inspired by his heroic legacy, let's resolve to meet today's civil rights challenges with the same tenacity and courage."