And Still, No Black Senator, No Black Governor

By Ike Mgbatogu

<Onumba.com: Posted November 8, 2002>

The midterm election of 2002 is now behind us. The votes have been counted, this time without the glitches and comical specter of hanging, swinging, dimpled and pregnant chads.

The Republican Party retained control of the House of Representatives while wrestling control of the senate from the Democrats the moment Sen. Jean Carnahan of Missouri conceded defeat to Republican opponent Rep. Jim Talent early hours of Wednesday morning.

Vermont Sen. James Jeffords 2001 congressional political rebellion that handed Democrats control of the senate has in the end proved to be just an aggravating political flat tire in President Bush's hasty ride to his social and economic conservative ends. But the triumph of the Republican Party at the polls and the trouncing of the Democratic Party still leave us with one visible disconcerting trend in American politics.

Still, no black U.S. senator and still no black governor.

However, little progress was scored in the fact that blacks picked up a couple of deputy governors, one in Ohio with Janette Bradley, and the other in Maryland with Michael Steele, both Republicans.

But the United States Senate remains an exclusive white club, lacking racial and ethnic diversity. There is no African-American senator in the United States Senate. Yet 12.3% of the U.S. population is black.

The National Governor's Association (NGA) is also lacking ethnic and racial balance. There is currently no black governor in the nation. Taking into account the size of black population alone, Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia are far more politically situated than the other states to produce a viable black gubernatorial contender.

Thirty-six percent of Mississippi population is black. Thirty percent of South Carolinians is black and for Georgia, it is 29%.

Appearing on CNN Larry King Live on the election night, Senator John McCain of Arizona echoed a similar sentiment. Still savoring his party's historic victory that gave Republicans control of the House and the Senate, McCain regretted the visible lack of ethnic diversity in the U.S. Senate.

Glass Ceiling Means Career Killing

P.B.S. Pinchback paved the way back in 1872 when he became the first black governor in the United States. Pinchback, a freeborn black served as the acting governor of Louisiana from 1872 - 1873 in place of the duly elected governor Henry Clay Warmoth who was under impeachment proceedings at that time.

Many have come to think that Douglas Wilder was the first black governor in the United States. But that's false.

Pinchback was the first black governor, and not Douglas. But Douglas was the first elected black governor. Douglas served as governor of Virginia from 1990 - 1994. Educated at Virginia Union University and Howard University Law School, Douglas served 16 years as a Virginia state senator, 4 years as lieutenant governor prior to his election as governor.

Why aren't blacks succeeding in their quest to become state chief executives? Is it due to the paucity of qualified black candidates? I would think not.

For one, there is a deep pool of former and current black mayors of major U.S. large cities who are just as qualified as Ed Rendell and Pete Wilson to become governors. Yet too many of these black mayors and other elected functionaries shy away from seeking these higher offices. Rendell, former Mayor of Philadelphia was recently elected governor of Pennsylvania and former Governor Pete Wilson of California was mayor of San Diego.

So, what stands in the way of blacks becoming state chief executives?

Candidly, the fact that so few blacks have demonstrated the burning desire to seek the post of governor not only reveals the depth of this depressing phenomenon but also provides palpable clues that points to the proverbial "glass ceiling" as the likely culprit. Keep in mind that the "Glass Ceiling" is both proactive and passive in its manifestations. That is, it is an invisible monster that clogs up the way of those who make attempts as well as those who refuse to try because of their belief that the proverbial ceiling is always there to render their attempts futile.

Recent attempts by H. Carl McCall in New York and Joe Neal in Nevada are laudable and encouraging steps in the right political direction. Yet the inability of both candidates to raise enough campaign funds and their disappointing showing at the polls against their white opponents reflects a profound setback for future black aspirants to the post of governor and leaves us all saddled with political depression and stagnation.

Democrat Joe Neal garnered only 22% of the total vote cast in Nevada. His opponent and the incumbent governor of Nevada Kenny Quinn had 68% on his way to a landslide victory.

Since the historic election of Doug Wilder in 1994 as governor of Virginia, McCall's candidacy offered blacks the most realistic promise of another elected black governor. Yet despite his solid candidacy, sound progressive social and economic policy articulations and the backing of political stalwarts like the Clintons, Charlie Rangel and the Cuomo's, McCall failed to mount a competitive contest broad and convincing enough to unseat incumbent governor George Pataki.

It is worth noting however that Pataki profited immeasurably from tangential emotional advantages stemming from his leadership role in the 9/11 terrorist attack. Though not quite at a comparable level, still McCall's gubernatorial candidacy was tantamount to running against former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani who is nationally adored as the undisputed hero of 9/11 human cataclysm.

For McCall, it was a monumental political hurdle to overcome.

On the senatorial side of this equation, blacks are also not fairing any better.

In January 1870, Hiram R. Revels became the first elected black U.S. senator from Mississippi. Ironically, Revel went to the senate to fill the seat left vacant by the confederate President Jefferson Davis, a man who wanted to subject Revel and his black people to perpetual human bondage.

Five years after Revels senatorial triumph, another black man, Blanche Kelso Bruce followed with his election to the U.S. senate. Kelso served from 1875 - 1881 and was the first black to serve a full senatorial term.

Nearly 86 years after Senator Bruce, Edward Brooke was elected a U.S. senator in 1967 from the state of Massachusetts. Brooke was the first black U.S. senator elected by popular vote and he served two full terms from 1967 to 1979.

In 1994, Carol Mosley Braun made the short roster of black U.S. senators when she became the first black woman elected to the U.S. senate from the state of Illinois.

Harvey Gantt's two gallant attempts to unseat the immovable conservative stalwart Jesse Helms fell short. Sadly, in one of those attempts, NBA superstar Michael Jordan turned down request that sought his endorsement of Gantt's candidacy precisely because of his selfish motivated trepidation of not wanting to alienate the republican consumers of his goods.

Appearing on MSNBC's Headlines & Legends in 2001, Craig Hodges, a former teammate of Jordan summed it up when he opined that Jordan's refusal to endorse Harvey Gantt might have contributed to his defeat.

In the just concluded 2002 elections, the NFL's All-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith demonstrated his social and political independence when he openly threw his support behind Ron Kirk who sought to fill the senatorial seat of the retiring Sen. Phil Graham of Texas.

Birds of the same feather serve only one term

Guess what Pinchback, Wilder, Revel, Kelso, and Braun all have in common? You guessed right. They were all limited to no more than one term in office. Only senator Brooke served two full terms. In stark contrast, most whites elected to the senate or the house are more likely to squeeze out a long career from their political office debut.

Is the rank and file of white Americans socially enlightened and politically mature enough to accept a black state chief executive without some racial grudges?

Blacks feature notably as department chief executives at all tiers of government. They are city managers and mayors of several major cities across the nation. The journey is in progress, despite the snail like pace. There will come a time in my life time when we will begin to see five to ten black governors and senators at a same time.

What about a black president?

Black president? Furgethaboudit.

Why?

Bcause the average white American is simply not yet ready for a black U.S. president residing in the white house.

Are you nuts?

Black people are barely able to get jobs that are commensurate to their qualification.

Black people would be doing remarkably well if I live to see a black president and I intend to live long. My misgivings is precisely because the deep -seated lingering of white supremacy, though subtle and drowned out in its daily menacing manifestations, becomes livid and hostile when black political power aspirations targets the governor's office or the white house.

So far, William Jefferson Clinton was the closest blacks came to having a black president. And in a fitting show of gratitude, President Clinton was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, the first and only white person to be given that honor.

Ike Mgbatogu, MPA, is the principal political writer and analyst for the Onumba.com - an on-line voice of the nation located in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. He can be reached at Ikeuzondu@onumba.com or (614) 848-7747.

Copyright © 2002 Ike Mgbatogu / Onumba Communications. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.