Retiring attorney Donald Harris is taking on a new challenge.
We talked to him in the barely controlled chaos of his longtime law offices, where he was closing shop after 42 years to devote his efforts to his role as president of the Maricopa County branch of the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Yup, this Brooklyn-born Jewish white guy, decorated U.S. Marine and longtime local criminal attorney is now the face of the NAACP here. His goal: “to get a real dialogue started and strengthened between blacks and whites, blacks and Latinos, and, of course, blacks and Jews.”
Don credits his late parents, Samuel and Helen Harris, “the finest people who ever lived,” with instilling in him and his older brother, Irwin, a deep concern for the rights of others. The family moved to the Valley in the mid-50s and Don attended West Phoenix High School. He went on to play football and baseball at Phoenix College (he is a recent initiate to the school’s Baseball Hall of Fame.) He transferred to the University of Arizona after two years and stayed in Tucson to graduate from law school with a specialty in criminal law, interspersed with joining the Marine Corps and continuing in the naval justice school and “four years of heaven” with the Marines. He was staff legal counsel in Okinawa and then was sent to Vietnam, where he made his mark as a civil affairs officer. Don’s cell phone ringtone is the Marine Corps hymn.
Although Don seriously considered staying in the service, things changed after he fractured his knee at age 28 playing football for the Marines against Navy. He then decided to follow his father’s advice to come home and practice law, even though his commanding officer “offered me the moon” if I would stay, Don recalls. At a social event here he met then-County Attorney Bob Corbin who, impressed by Don’s Marine credentials, took him on as a prosecutor to handle major felonies. Don formed a partnership with Doug Peacock, and his retirement comes after a successful longtime legal practice. His local involvement through the years includes serving on the boards of Congregation Beth Israel, the Boys Club and the Western Art Association of the Phoenix Art Museum, and he is “a big supporter” of the Scottsdale Artists School.
His connection to the Jewish state? From the first time he set foot in Israel in 1972, Don says he felt like he was “walking on air.” Since then he has visited the Jewish state 36 times. “I am an American and served my country well,” he says, “but I also am an ardent Zionist. I support local Jewish causes, but programs benefiting Israeli soldiers are the ones that have my heart.” At one point he helped patrol the Gaza border along with members of the IDF.
A local judge, George Logan, really turned him on to the cause of civil rights and took him to an NAACP meeting. The judge, who laughingly describes Don as “a white guy who dances like a black guy,” introduced him to leaders in the black community including the Rev. Oscar Tillman. Don was at the meeting when Tillman announced his retirement as the organization’s president. “No one was willing to replace him,” Don recalls. “No one was running, and I thought that was a shanda (Yiddish for shame). I nominated myself – I ran unopposed – and I won!”
His two-year term began this past January. Don says he is “a tough, strong leader,” while acknowledging he is not everyone’s “favorite flavor.” He says, “there are some people in the African-American community who are not happy that I am the face of the local NAACP” and notes that prejudice goes both ways. “For the most part, my being white is a bigger issue than the fact that I am Jewish.”
He says his main thrust is to help people better understand each other. He ponders if blacks even know that Jews played a major role in the founding of the NAACP. He is glad that, at the organization’s recent conference in Philadelphia, delegates viewed a screening of “Rosenwald,” the story of philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, who made his fortune at the helm of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and contributed staggering amounts of money to benefit African-American culture and education.
Closing in on a youthful age 80, Don is committed to making a difference during his NAACP regime and strongly supports the premise that black lives do indeed matter. He invites interested parties to contact him at 602-252-4064. “We could use counselors, office staff, educators, people of good will,” he says.
