Black History

Why The 2020 Election Is Being Compared to Elections After The Civil War

Published

4 years ago

October 25, 2020

Historians and political scientists are turning to the past to frame the discussion about the more than 50 million Americans who have already voted before Election Day, many of whom have stood in line for hours. Media outlets are comparing an obviously energized electorate to the percentage of voters who participated in the elections after the Civil War, but at least one political scientist, Dr. Sekou Franklin of Middle Tennessee State, hesitates to compare the percentages of voter turnout.

“It’s much easier to make that conclusion if the voter eligible population is very narrow and much smaller,” says Franklin. “So, I’m very reluctant to do century-to-century or regional comparisons when the number of eligible voters was much narrower than today.”

According to USA Today, the nation “saw the highest eligible voter turnout rate, 82.6%, in 1876, when Republican Rutherford Hayes defeated Democrat Samuel Tilden. In 1860, when Abraham Lincoln defeated John Breckinridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas, 81.8% of eligible voters turned out.”

And voter turnout climbed above 80% in at least four other elections in the 1800s.

Why So High

With the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, newly freed slaves embraced their right to vote. Before the passage of the Amendment in 1869 granting Black men the right to vote, voting rights advocates questioned the logic behind disenfranchisement and pushed for the inclusion of Black men.

Delegates attending the 1864 National Convention of Colored Men in Syracuse, New York asked, “Are we good enough to use bullets, and not good enough to use ballots?”

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass attended the Convention and said, “We are here to promote the freedom, progress, elevation, and perfect enfranchisement, of the entire colored people of the United States; to show that, though slaves, we are not contented slaves, but that, like all other progressive races of men, we are resolved to advance in the scale of knowledge , worth, and civilization, and claim our rights as men among men.”

And there was Congressional assistance in the effort. In 1867, Republicans in Congress passed a series of Reconstruction Acts, overriding President Johnson’s veto. The first act required former Confederate states to form new governments that enfranchised all “male citizens…twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color, or previous condition” before they could be readmitted to the Union.

The next election saw Black men finally allowed to participate at the polls which explains, in part, the high turnout numbers in 1868, 1872, and 1876.

Franklin points to the impact of what some historians call “the squeeze” or in his words, “white voters in the South who were still committed to the Confederate Cause.”

And he describes the 1876 election as “full of fraud and voter intimidation, particularly talking about African American voters.”

It was the 1877 Compromise when newly elected Republican President Hayes struck a deal to clinch the White House which included removing federal troops from southern states that ushered in the end of Reconstruction.

More than a century after that fateful 1876 election, Franklin cites the issues of today as offering the most striking historical parallels.

“Those were elections in which race and federalism were at the front and center,” he says. “And so I think, if you were to look at the election today and what may be animating in the electorate, on the one hand, you have Black and Latinx voters, perhaps…at least Black voters, some Latinx…and still a pretty dogmatic, white racial grievance that’s gravitated towards Trump. That those things are animated in that election as they were animating in the election in the late 19th century.”

Black History

President Jimmy Carter Appointed the First Black Woman to Lead a Federal Agency

Published

3 months ago

January 9, 2025

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President Jimmy Carter advanced opportunities for African Americans throughout his life,
advocating for justice and peace consistent with the Christian values he embraced. Since his
death on December 29 at age 100, Mr. Carter’s praises have been sung from his home state of
Georgia to points around the globe. And while the former president’s one-term in the White
House is dismissed by some political pundits for a lack of policies or accomplishments that
changed the course of history, his character and integrity set him apart.

Carter became the first president to appoint a Black woman head of a federal agency. He chose
Patricia Roberts Harris to lead the Housing and Urban Development when he took office in
1977.

Harris said, “I feel deeply proud and grateful this President chose me to knock down this barrier, but also a little sad about being the ‘first Negro woman,’ because it implies we were not
considered before.”

Senator William Proxmire questioned Carter’s choice, saying Harris came from too much wealth and influence to be an effective leader. But Carter stood by his decision, and Harris stayed in the position for two years.

The 39th president’s name is also included on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame.

Civil rights activist, Rev. Al Sharpton recalled a conversation he shared with Carter.

“It was very significant, I was talking there at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, and I was talking to President Clinton and President Carter,” Sharpton recalled. “And when Clinton and I finished talking, President Carter touched me on my arm and said, ‘How are you doing with your ministry, Al? I see you out there with your activism. Don’t leave your ministry … keep your prayer life going.’ And you could tell he sincerely meant it. He was not one who talked about his religion as a political kind of something you could say to voters.”

President Joe Biden declared January 9, 2025, a national day of mourning. Millions watched the former president’s funeral on television as he was remembered as a man of honesty,
compassion and faith – which included championing the rights of Americans who knew firsthand the struggle of injustice

Black History

The Congressional Black Caucus Prepares for “Important” Work

Published

3 months ago

January 3, 2025

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The Congressional Black Caucus started the 119th Congress with its largest membership. There were 62 members sworn in today.

“On behalf of the entire Congressional Black Caucus, congratulations to the members of the Executive Committee of the 119th Congress. 53 years after our Caucus’ founding, our work to improve the lives and conditions of Black people in America is more important than ever before,” said CBC President Steven Horsford.

Photo Credit: Ron Busby, U.S. Black Chambers Inc.

Black History

Formerly All-Black School in Arkansas Works to Restore Campus

Published

3 months ago

December 18, 2024

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In Arkansas a formerly all-Black school, Ouachita County Training School, has launched a national fundraising effort to restore the campus following its designation as a site on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the first corporate donations to OCTS, located in Bearden, Arkansas, came from the Katherine Anthony Foundation.

Anthony’s nephew, Steve, and CEO of Anthony Timberlands, presented a $10,000 check to the historic committee.

“We are happy to support the work of the Greater Bradley District Association and the Ouachita County Training School committee in their efforts to maintain the infrastructure and grounds of the training school, which is such an important part of the Bearden community,” Anthony said.

The National Park Service listed OCTS on the prestigious register in 2023.

“Since we received the news, we have been excited and motivated to raise the funds necessary to preserve this part of our history!” Virginia Ashley, committee president said. “We recognize the pivotal role OCTS played in educating several generations of young people who started right here and went on to contribute greatly to the Black middle class and the world.”

The gift of education

For education advocates, December holds a special place in American history. During the Christmas Season in 1952, the Supreme Court first heard arguments to eliminate segregation in the nation’s public schools. But, it took two more years before the Court issued its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring segregation unconstitutional.

During the 1950s, OCTS educated Black students in the small southern town south of Little Rock, which became known internationally for The Little Rock Nine and their efforts to integrate Central High School. In Bearden, several Rosenwald Schools had consolidated to create the larger OCTS campus that educated students from the first through the 12^th grades.

“I have such wonderful memories of my days as a student at OCTS,” recalled Pearlie Newton, a retired educator and executive director of the OCTS historic committee. “My dad helped pour concrete at the campus, my husband and I met there and it was in one of the classrooms that my goal to become an educator took shape.”

Despite the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision eliminating “separate but equal” schools, OCTS remained segregated until 1971 when it merged with the white school district in the area. An association of Black Baptist churches known as the Greater Bradley District Association purchased the campus for use as its headquarters.

Pastor and Association Moderator, Verna Thompson, said, “We are excited about the renovation and look forward to holding our church services and meetings in a modernized facility that holds so much historic significance.”