First African American Congressman

In 2008, America crossed a threshold by electing Barack Obama as the very first President of African American descent. It was certainly an accomplishment in the sense that Americans of all stripes essentially set aside the issue of race in order to elect whom they felt was the best qualified candidate for the job.

It was about time—remarkable, but not astounding, since our nation has come a long way since the Civil War.

If you had asked me when the first African American was elected to Congress, I would probably have said sometime in the 1940’s or even the 50’s.

Not even close.

The year was 1870.

That’s right EIGHTEEN-seventy. Barely five years after the war prompted by the issue of slavery, Hiram Rhoades Revels, a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi was sworn into the U.S. Senate on this date in 1870.

Revels, a college-educated minister, helped form African American army regiments for the UNION cause, started a school for free men and served as a chaplain for the Union army. In January of 1870, Revels was elected to the Mississippi Legislature to fill the seat once occupied by none other than Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy. Now, THAT’S irony for ya!

Perhaps more amazing than a black man in the Senate just after the Civil War is the fact that (as of 2008) he remains one of only FIVE African Americans to serve as U.S. Senators. That fact is perhaps even more incredible than Revels' term coming when it did.

Here is a quick video resume for America’s first black congressman:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=offq5Mp_FDU


Progress will truly come when sex, race and religion fail to affect the outcome of elections. President Kennedy dispelled the notion that a Roman Catholic could not be elected—and Barack Obama neutralized the issue of race in 2008. Hillary Clinton’s exceedingly close defeat to Obama demonstrated that gender would likely not have been a factor had she been the Democratic nominee.

There will surely be a woman President in the future, a Hispanic Chief Executive and maybe even someone whose religion is Islam—although I’ll bet that we are a long way from that last threshold, given the public's orientation today. Of course, the goal is never to affirm our absence of prejudice by purposely voting in someone of a specific “group”, be it nationality, gender or religious preference.

Let’s stick to the three C’s:

Character
Competence
Communicator

Other C’s like: Charisma or Correctness (as in Political) can dangle forever as completely irrelevant.

Remember, if Charisma (seen by many as essential) was employed as a “must-have” quality more than a century ago, a young lawyer by the name of Abraham Lincoln would never have been elected. And that’s a sobering thought.

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