doors to blacks by arguing private property rights, would force any private business, however remotely involved in interstate commerce, to open its doors to every person regardless of race. Against the counsel of even Atlanta's most prominent black leaders, Allen chose to go to Washington and deliver his testimony, knowing it would most likely ruin his political career and deeply affect his personal and business relationships. Nevertheless, with the support of his wife and very few others, Allen risked his place in society, his political future, the safety of his family, and ultimately his life to advocate the public accommodation of African Americans. On July 26, 1963, Allen spoke before the U.S. Congress and the nation in support of what became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He was the only prominent white southern elected official to do so. As a result, there were death threats made towards the Allen family, and many white friends and constituents never spoke to him again. Just one month after Allen's testimony, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, also calling for racial equality and an end to discrimination, later proving to be a very defining moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Excerpts from Allen's testimony were published in newspapers the day after he spoke in front of Congress: "I am firmly convinced that the Supreme Court insists the same fundamental rights must be held by every American citizen. Therefore, any failure by Congress to pass the [Civil Rights] bill would amount to an endorsement of private business setting up an entirely new status of discrimination throughout the nation... I submit that it is not right to allow an American's citizenship to be changed merely as a matter of convenience.... I want to emphasize again that now is the time for legislative action. We cannot dodge this issue. We cannot look back over our shoulders or turn the clock back to the eighteen-sixties. We must take action now to assure a greater future for our citizens and our country.... Now the elimination of segregation, which is slavery's stepchild, is a challenge to all of us to make every American free in fact as well as in theory..." Allen described that to be the moment which made civil rights a very personal matter to him: "I have to be honest with myself and admit that up until the time I