New Mexico’s Lucky Day

In New Mexico one of our best kept secrets is former U.S. Sen. Fred Harris. It was a lucky day in 1976 when Sen. Harris and his family moved to New Mexico.

The move came after two terms as U.S. senator from Oklahoma and two runs for president in 1972 and 1976. 

On May 21 New Mexico PBS will air “American Experience: The Riot Report.” Harris is featured as the surviving member of the National Advisory Council on Civil Disorders, better known as the Kerner Commission. It was established after the Detroit riot of 1967, which killed dozens of people and spurred other riots in cities in Ohio, New Jersey and New York. 

Harris was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson at a time when one journalist dubbed it as the worst crisis since the Civil War. 

The work of the commission and its conclusions were controversial. After intensive field investigations in 23 cities, the report concluded that white racism and police brutality – not communist agitators, as President Johnson had thought – were what sparked the riots. The conclusion was unanimous among the members of the commission, who had significantly differing political views. 

Reading that was what gave me the idea to write about Sen. Harris, who I met in 1982. In New Mexico communities outside of Albuquerque, Fred Harris might not be a familiar name. And with the shrinking emphasis on teaching history, the story of the Detroit Riots through the Riot Report and other historical events of the 60s become less well known.

Fred Harris, through his personal story as a young boy in Oklahoma, his service as a state legislator and as a U.S. senator from the same state, his experience as a two-time candidate for president, and as a member of the Kerner Commission make him New Mexico’s own witness to history. 

After moving to New Mexico, Harris began a 30-year career as a professor in the Political Science Department at the University of New Mexico. Then for ten years he was founder and director of the Fred Harris Congressional Internship program, established in 2006, which gives students the chance to spend a semester in Washington D. C. working for a member of the New Mexico delegation. Students get a bird’s eye view of how Congress works (or sometimes doesn’t work).  

As a popular and beloved history professor at UNM, Harris became known as the best storyteller of historical events and their context, including those in his lifetime. Among them, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights fights, and successes of LBJ and the conflicts including in his own party about the Vietnam War. 

He wasn’t always just teaching history. He was also connecting with and encouraging   students to keep going. That story was brought to light last weekend at the convocation of the graduating political science students. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland told of Harris’ impact on her own life. She came to his classroom as a single Native American mom, recovering alcoholic, and struggling student working to get her education. Harris’ encouragement and friendship, his knowledge of the struggles of Native Americans, and his innate ability to identify her determination powered her through – encouraged her to be an activist, get her law degree, and succeed. 

Almost 50 years after that move in 1976, Harris has become known by students, friends, and political colleagues from both sides as “a radical optimist,” always looking ahead with an eye on the future, believing in the goodness of others and the power of the next generation, and confident in our ability to do better. New Mexico is lucky indeed.