The Department of Transportation building in Washington DC was formally named the William T. Coleman, Jr and Norman Y. Mineta Federal Building May 9, in honor of its two former trailblazing secretaries.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, standing alongside Coleman’s son Harden, and Mineta’s son Dave, unveiled a large bronze plaque, bearing the names and visages, along with a brief biography of their lives in public service. The unveiling ceremony, attended by several members of Congress, Coleman and Mineta’s families, and Attorney General Merrick Garland, was fittingly held during Public Service Week.
Coleman, who died in 2017, served as Transportation Secretary from 1975 to 1977. He was the first Black American to serve in that post, and the second Black American to get a Cabinet post.
Mineta, who died last May, was the first Asian American to attain a Cabinet post. President Bill Clinton appointed him Commerce Secretary during his second term. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Mineta as Transportation Secretary: he was the only Democrat in Bush’s cabinet.
‘Extraordinary Men’
Buttigieg noted that the building has not had a name since the Department moved in. “These are names that will guide us to the values of trust, empathy, and imagination.”
“These were two extraordinary men with extraordinary careers,” said former Congressman Peter DeFazio, who was key to getting a bill passed to name the building for Mineta and Coleman. President Joe Biden signed the bill last year.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, who was also critical to getting the naming legislation passed, said: “These men led consequential lives, lifting our nation to greater heights. They loved a country whose policies and citizens did not always love them back.”
Segregation
Coleman clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, but was not allowed to eat at many restaurants because of his race. He was suspended from his high school for asking to join the all-white swim team, noted Wicker.
Mineta spent much of his childhood in an internment camp in Wyoming. His parents were initially barred from becoming citizens. He was the first Asian American mayor of San Jose, California, and went on to represent San Jose in Congress for two decades.
Eight months after his appointment as Transportation Secretary, the U.S. faced its worst crisis in history: the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which killed an estimated 3,000 people.
9/11
“Norm called me. He was very calm. ‘I’m putting all the planes down. They’re not going anywhere until we know what’s going on,’” DeFazio recalled Mineta telling him. “He was extraordinarily calm in that moment of crisis.”
Mineta grounded 18,000 flights that day. He then went on to oversee the the development of the Transportation Security Administration. The Democrat received a Medal of Freedom from Bush, a Republican, while Coleman, a Republican, received his Medal of Freedom from Clinton, a Democrat.
In attendance at the naming ceremony were Dave and Stuart Mineta, Norman Mineta’s sons, and Harden Coleman, William Coleman’s son. His other son, also named William, spoke from a skilled nursing facility — he had recently suffered a heart attack — to express appreciation for Biden and Buttigieg. “This is a recognition that Secretary Mineta and my dad richly deserved,” he said, noting both men’s commitment to diversity, civil rights, economic opportunity for all, and broad bipartisanship.
Vicious Racism
“We are at a critical moment in our country when everything they fought so hard for is being contested,” said William Coleman.
Harden Coleman said his father always pushed his sons to excel at whatever they undertook. “I don’t care if you’re a bum on the beach. When I visit you, I want you to be the best bum on the beach,” Harden Coleman recalled his father telling him, eliciting a laugh from the audience. “It is my hope that when people see this plaque and see their names, they will see within themselves the opportunity to serve well.”
Dave Mineta said: “Today is as much a moment for my mother Deni as it is for my dad. Theirs was a true partnership.”
“Dad would be so proud that his name is alongside Bill Coleman’s,” said Dave Mineta, noting they were both friends. “Dad and Bill were both leaders who faced down vicious racism,” he said, noting that his father was turned away from renting an apartment in San Jose because of his race.
