Shirley Chisholm: Racism and Gender in Congress
Her stories are priceless!
I need just an ounce of this bravery / brilliance while working on Capitol Hill.
Shirley Chisolm, professional badass.
Reblogging again for LTMC’s excellent commentary.
On this date - November 5th - in 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman ever to be elected to the United States Congress. Her words still ring true today: “At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.” Thank you, Ms. Chisholm, for leading the way!
LTMC: It’s always good to think about these historic moments, because they can help you to understand the present.
1968 was strikingly similar to 2011: today, cities across America are currently being occupied by OWS protesters. These protests have been brought on, for the most part, by a sense that the system no longer works. While there is incredible diversity among the protesters, they are protesting an economic order in which massive wealth is being accumulated by a small minority of the population, many of whom are guilty of private-sector abuses which are being sanctioned by an unresponsive and/or collusive government.
The same thing was happening in 1968. Cities across America were igniting with discontent, protest, and anger. The only difference being the motivation of the protesters: racial justice.
The spark that supposedly lit the flame was the Assassination of Martin Luther King in April of that year. 110 U.S. cities were afflicted with civil unrest. While there is no doubt that King’s assassination was a catalyst, there remains an essential fact that ought not be forgotten: there could be no 1968 race riots without the continuing legal and social discrimination that had essentially remained unaddressed since the end of Reconstruction. Previous attempts to ban private sector discrimination had largely been interpreted out of existence by the Supreme Court; and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was inadequate because it still allowed private parties to legally discriminate in certain aspects of the sale and transfer of real estate. Meaning that African Americans still endured the imprimatur of second class citizenship.
Martin Luther King’s message of peaceful resistance had also been increasingly falling on deaf ears well prior to his death in 1968. For evidence of this, one might look to Malcolm X’s infamous “Ballot or the Bullet” speech in 1964. The patience of many young African Americans was starting to wear thin. The pot was boiling, but few people realized the gravity with which it would spill over in 1968.
Professor Anthony Farley, who teaches at Albany Law School, believes that the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was signed very shortly after the race riots began, was a direct result of the race riots themselves. He believes that whenever people rise up collectively to threaten an established economic, social, or political order, individuals in power are generally compelled to act. He believes that absent these riots, the political will to pass the Act would not have existed.
Professor Farley’s belief may have merit: just recently, Democrats introduced a constitutional amendment which would overrule Citizens United and eliminate corporate personhood. This idea is not new. Yet the thought of introducing this amendment seriously in Congress has been kind of a misnomer up until now. Indeed, the Constitution has become so fetishized in America’s political zeitgeist that it is difficult to imagine any amendment passing all the required legislative checks in today’s political climate. But the popular foundation laid by the OWS movement may have created the atmosphere necessary to cause lawmakers to believe that it was at least worth trying. That in of itself lends credence to the idea that these protests are having an impact, if only indirectly.
Will OWS lead to meaningful changes? It’s difficult to predict. The movement could fizzle out, become co-opted by the existing political system, or the protesters themselves might lose their collective will to keep the protests alive. But what I do know is that roughly seven months after 110 American cities erupted in civil unrest over issues pertaining to racial justice, the first black woman in history was able to get elected to Congress. Perhaps six months from today, we’ll know whether OWS is capable of having the impact that its participants hope to achieve.
On this date - November 5th - in 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman ever to be elected to the United States Congress. Her words still ring true today: “At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.” Thank you, Ms. Chisholm, for leading the way!
Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.
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| — | Shirley Chisholm (via daniellemertina) |
On this date in 1972, Shirley Chisholm came in 4th in the 1st ballot at the Democratic National Convention. Her run for the presidency took the “white male only” sign off the White House.
I’m needing some inspiration this a.m., and I just found it. BAMF.
I was a delegate at that convention and there was lots of angry and heart wrenching debating and soul searching. I know I cried at having to choose between McGovern and Chisholm. Thanks for the memories.
