The Foreign Service Journal, May 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2020 73 The End of Apartheid Tex and I first met in 1972 when I was the Congo desk officer in the Bureau of African Affairs, and he was on the board of AFSA work- ing to make the association eligible to become the Foreign Service’s collective bargaining unit. Since I had both training and experience as a labor attaché, he asked me to organize a “Members’ Interests Committee,” which I did. Our work was essentially to field incoming correspondence from AFSA members who requested help with problems related to work- ing conditions abroad. As a result, we were able to help quite a few members and estab- lish a list of areas requiring reform through eventual negotiations with management. For example, we were able to persuade manage- ment to include kindergarten in the overseas educational allow- ance. We also arranged for an increase in international personal effects weight allowance for secretarial and communications personnel. Tex was vigorous in support of these improvements in work- ing conditions in his dialogue with management. Later, when I was senior director for Africa on the National Security Council staff (1986-1987), Tex was the U.S. consul gen- eral in Durban, South Africa. The minority-rule apartheid system was still in force, with full racial segregation and discrimination 24/7. During my visits to Durban, I saw the unique Tex Harris style that drew intellectuals from all of the races to come together at his dinner table for frank discussions. I fully believe that Tex played an important role in bringing the younger generation of white South Africans to understand that the apartheid system was doomed to fail economically, and that it had to end for the greater good of the nation. In the whites-only election of 1989, the new president, F.W. de Klerk, made the momentous decision to begin negotia- tions to transition from apartheid to democratic majority rule. De Klerk told me in confidence he was planning to do this in Durban after Tex brought us together. Our final collaboration took place from 1989 to 1993 when I was assistant secretary of State for Africa. Tex was my director for regional affairs, a job that took him into a variety of sectors. After we decided to start promoting democracy in Africa, I asked USAID/Africa if it could plan to finance relevant programs in selected African countries. The USAID office replied that it did economic development, not democracy. Tex did some investi- gating and found that USAID had been doing major democracy promotion projects in Latin America since the 1930s. As a result, USAID agreed to do similar projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Tex had two qualities that made him an invaluable colleague. He was always determined to do what was right and morally justified, and he had the courage to stand up for his principles. Secondly, he never gave up. He kept pushing until he achieved the objective. And he did all that serious work while maintaining a fabulous sense of humor. And on Saturdays, we played touch football. —Herman J. “Hank” Cohen Everything about Tex was outsized. His energy and enthusi- asm; his outlook and optimism; his spirit and voice; his vision and influence; his interests and engagement; his height and girth; and his heart (hard to believe that gave out); even his walker was Texas-sized. And his passing means that the hole in all of our lives will be equally outsized. —Thomas “Ted” E. McNamara Tex Harris, back center, with Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, following a meeting with the senator on Capitol Hill in 2007. From left: AFSA USAID VP Francisco Zamora, AFSA Executive Director Ian Houston, Harris, Lugar, and Ambassadors (ret.) Thomas Boyatt and Willard “Bill” DePree. COURTESYOF IANHOUSTON Tex Harris, Tom Boyatt, Lois Roth and Hank Cohen testify at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings, March 12, 1974. AFSA/ FSJ JUNE 1974