PageA9
Februaiy 13. 2008
B lack H istory M onth
African Americans in Congress
New book
explores black
political clout
T he D em ocratic recapture o f
C ongress and the record num ber o f
African A m ericans there - includ
ing the chairs o f the W ays and
M eans, Judiciary and H om eland
Security com m ittees - signals a
resurgence of black political clout
on C apitol Hill this year.
But for m ost o f the nation's his
tory, that level o f influence was
sadly absent, as a new book. A fri
can A m ericans in C ongress: A
D ocum entary History illustrates.
In 1869, Louisiana new spaper
editor J. W illis M enard becam e the
first African A m erican to claim a
H ouse seat in a special election
m arred by intim idation and harass
ment o f black voters.
In arguing his case, M enard be
cam e the first African A m erican to
speak on the H ouse floor, where he
said, "I do not expect nor do I ask
that there shall be any favor shown
me on account o f my race or the
form er condition o f that race." But
the H ouse rejected his claim.
T he following year, it took three
days o f debate before the Senate
agreed to sw ear in the first black
senator. Republican Hiram Revels
o f M ississippi, who ironically filled
the seat o f formerConfederate Presi
dent Jefferson Davis. Dem ocrats
couched their opposition largely in
irrelevant constitutional term s, but
their w ords dem onstrated that rac
ism was the implicit, and sometimes
explicit, basis for
opposition.
A fter Rev els de
livered his maiden
s p e e c h , a p ro -
D em ocratic New
York newspaper la
beled it “the first
speech ever deliv
ered by the lineal
descendant o f an
o ra n g -o u ta n g in
C o ngress.”
A nd w hen he
traveled betw een
W ashington and hom e, he was
forced to ride in the segregated
section of M ississippi River steam
b oats.
D u rin g R e c o n stru c tio n , the
South sent a string o f A frican
A m ericans to Congress, but they
w ielded little influence, individu
ally orcollecti vely. There were never
enough at any one tim e to consti
tute an effective voting bloc, and
none stayed long enough to accu
m ulate m eaningful seniority.
In 1880. Blanche Bruce o f M is
sissippi, the second black senator,
Hiram Revels of Mississippi was the first black to serve in the
U.S. Senate.
did chair the Senate select com m it
tee investigating the collapse of
the F reedm an’s Savings and Trust
Co., but he served only a single
term, and no other African A m eri
can w ould chair a standing com m it
tee until 1949.
Bleak years follow ed Recon
struction, with disenfranchisem ent
o f b la c k v o te rs
across the South,
violence and fraud
directed at those
w ho dared try to
v o te an d g e rry
m a n d e rin g th a t
d estro y ed black-
m ajority districts.
On Jan. 29,1901,
the sole remaining
A frican American
in Congress, Rep.
G eorge W hite of
N o rth C a ro lin a ,
delivered his valedictory speech.
“ 1 w ant to enter a plea for the
colored man, the colored woman,
the colored boy and the colored
girl," W hite said. "T his is perhaps
the N egroes' tem porary farewell to
the A m erican Congress, but let me
say, phoenix-like, he will rise up
some day and com e again.”
Yet it w ould take alm ost three
more decades before an African
A merican w ould serve. That would
be O scar D ePriest. an Illinois Re
publican.
W h en
P re s id e n t H e rb e rt
H oover's wife invited D ePriest’s
wife to a W hite House tea for co n
g ressio n al sp o u ses, a n atio n al
firestorm ignited. The Texas legis
lature even passed a resolution re
buking the First Lady and declaring
that "w e bow our heads in shame
and regret.”
In 1934, DePriest chai lenged seg
regation of the Capitol restaurant,
declaring, “If we allow segregation
and the denial o f constitutional
rights under the dom e of the C api
tol, where in G o d 's name will we get
them ?”
His plea fell on d eaf ears. The
restaurant remained off-lim its to
blacks until at least 1948.
It was the Civil Rights Act o f
1964, the Voting Rights Act o f 1965,
a series o f Suprem e Court rulings
and the civil rights m ovement that
propelled major transform ation in
the com plexion o f Congress,
Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr.,
D-N. Y., chaired the Education and
LaborCom m ittee, shepherding key
leg islatio n for P resid en ts John
K ennedy and Lyndon Johnson,
until his ethical breaches cost him
that post.
In 1966, for the first tim e since
Reconstruction, a black candidate
won a Senate seat. He was Edward
Brooke, a m oderate Republican
from M assachusetts. In 1971, the
Congressional Black Caucus was
officially born as a nonpartisan or
ganization.
----- 1 P iuh
h
S ponsor |-----------
REMEMBER.
CELEBRATE.
PRESERVE.
BANK OF THE WEST IS PROUD TO CELEBRATE
BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF
AFRICAN AMERICANS THROUGH HISTORY.
Different perspectives generate fresh ideas. That’s why at
Bank of the West, we value diversity and equal opportunity
for all our employees. Year after year, we continue to grow
stronger thanks to our unique blend of people. After all, in
today's competitive banking environment, it is our employees
with innovative ideas who keep us a step ahead of the rest.
______ BANKTImWEST______ I
www.bankofthewest.com
© 2008 Bank of the West. Member FDIC.
ARE YOU?
Save Your History, Museum Urges
continued
from A7
also at risk," he said.
"It’s the kind o f thingthat earlier
generations treasured, but as fam i
lies m ove around, I thought we
better do this, not in term s o f what
we collect, but w hat we can pre
serve," Bunch said.
Bunch said som e items exam
ined during the "African American
Treasures" events might eventu
ally get into the m useum 's collec
tion. But he also w ants people with
historical item s — if no one in the
family is interested in caring for
them — to consider donating them
to local libraries, museums and in
stitutions where they could become
part of a research collection.
"This is a process that is really
about helping people to remember,
trying to get people to realize that
their story is history," Bunch said.
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I