Above: Gubernatorial nominees Ben Jealous, Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum
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THE NATION'S LARGEST AFRICAN AMERICAN ORAL HISTORY ARCHIVE
August 31, 2018 - Vol. 1, Issue 48
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African American Governors
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Virginia Governor
The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder
1990-1994
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Massachusetts Governor
The Honorable Deval L. Patrick
2007-2015
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New York Governor The Honorable David A. Paterson
2008-2010
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This primary season we’ve seen exciting news around the Democratic Party gubernatorial nominations of
Stacey Abrams
of Georgia,
Ben Jealous
of Maryland and
Andrew Gillum
of Florida. Currently, the United States does not have a single black governor in office. Furthermore, Georgia, Maryland and Florida have never had a black governor, nor has Florida had a black candidate nominated for the position in either the Democratic or Republican Party. All of this seems poised to change in the upcoming November elections.
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However, throughout U.S. history, the pursuit of high profile statewide office appears somewhat elusive for African American candidates. Only four times in our nation’s history has an African American held gubernatorial office, and only twice have those been elected positions. The first came in 1872 when
P.B.S. Pinchback
served as governor of Louisiana for a total of 36 days from December of 1872 to January of 1873. Pinchback assumed the governor’s office after Governor
Henry Clay Warmoth
was impeached for misconduct during an election.
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While the number of African American government officials has steadily increased since Reconstruction at the local level, statewide successes have been minimal. After Pinchback, it would take 118 years for the U.S. to seat its second black governor.
In 1990,
The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder
became the first African American elected governor and the first since Reconstruction. When making his decision to run for governor, Wilder contemplated the trajectory of his political career, “
But I decided I'd been there long enough in the Senate. I either should move up or out. And so I said, ‘I'm gonna move up or out. If I move into the position of lieutenant governor, wouldn't it be natural to assume that I should go to be governor?’”
[
The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder, THMDA, 1.7.2
].
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There is no template for success when it comes to campaigning, financing and experience, especially for African American political candidates. Historically, African American candidates are overlooked and underrepresented in the media, and their resumes are dissected and scrutinized, often deemed “underqualified” and “unprepared.”
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In his interview, Wilder also stressed the importance of establishing one’s proficiency, in other words serving the appropriate apprenticeship in order to garner major party support.
In 2006, when
The Honorable Deval L. Patrick
was elected governor of Massachusetts, he broke the mold in terms of political proficiency before entering office. A Chicago native and Harvard Law School educated civil rights attorney, Patrick worked with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and as a corporate counsel for Coca-Cola and Texaco. Patrick had done everything--except run for political office. Shortly after his inauguration, Wilder noted that he was “tremendously impressed” with Patrick’s campaign.
6
Eddie Jenkins, Jr.
who campaigned for Deval recalled, “
I campaigned for him, led him through parades, just door knocked for him. If you lived in Massachusetts, you owed it to yourself to do the best you could--to put a man who has his type of qualities in office.
” [
Eddie Jenkins, Jr., THMDA, 1.6.9
].
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When
The Honorable David A. Paterson
assumed governorship in New York in 2008, he became the first black governor in the State of New York. He was sworn in on March 17th amidst a complicated scandal that ousted former Governor
Eliot Spitzer
from office. He also reflected on the media’s representation of his tenure as governor citing, “
I feel that it was racial in the sense that a black man became governor of New York, but he didn’t become governor by being elected. He became governor because, as Malcolm Wilson did in 1974 [sic. 1973], which was the last time it happened. But when a black man did it, they called it the accidental governor
.” [
The Honorable David Paterson, THMDA, Tape 12
].
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Paterson handled the tumultuous situation with great reserve, and served the remainder of Spitzer’s term until 2010 choosing not to seek reelection.
In this historic forthcoming election season, we aim to close the gap between African American politicians and statewide office. Although there has been minimal representation at the state level, there are considerable breakthroughs to celebrate. In her interview,
Gwen Ifill
reminded us that in spite of the challenges black politicians’ face, there are those who have prevailed, “
They said, people told them it wasn't time, that they weren't ready, including other black politicians, black civil rights leaders who weren't ready to hand over the torch. People told them they weren't black enough, that they didn't fit some sort of notion of what blackness ought to be. Everybody said that.
Deval Patrick
said it,
Barack Obama
said it, everybody said.
Ed Brooke
said it. And the more I started putting together this story, I realized it was an amazing similarity of what it took to be audacious enough to think that you could be mayor, be county executive, be whatever, in spite of. And I just thought that was a very fascinating story.”
[
Gwen Ifill, THMDA, 2.7.1
].
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The HistoryMakers Wish You A Happy Labor Day Weekend!
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The HistoryMakers at APSA
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Dionti Davis and Aubrey Butts traveled to Boston to attend the annual American Political Science Association conference that is being held from August 30th to September 2nd.
This past Thursday, The HistoryMakers were welcomed at the reception held by the National Council of Black Political Scientists and the APSA Status of Blacks in the Profession Committee thanks to
Shayla Nunnally
and
Tyson King-Meadows
.
HistoryMakers
Lorenzo Morris and
Charles Henry
have been longstanding members of the APSA and HistoryMaker
Paula McClain
is the current president elect. All three have been interviewed by The HistoryMakers and we plan to interview past president
Dianne Pinderhughes
. The theme for this year's conference is 'Democracy and Its Discontents.' If you are at the conference make sure to stop by our booth and take a look at the Digital Archive.
We still have one more day at the conference, find us here:
Where
: Hynes Convention Center, Exhibit Hall "A" --
Booth number 233
When
: Saturday September 1st, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
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The HistoryMakers visit the Schomburg Center
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Thanks to
Theresa Martin
this past Monday, The HistoryMakers Founder and President,
Julieanna L. Richardson,
visited New York City's
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
to talk about potential collaborations between the two organizations. Ms. Richardson met with Center Director
Kevin Young
, Director of Collections
Mary Yearwood,
Curator
Shola Lynch
and Associate Chief Librarian
Maria Liriano.
She also toured the new Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division. Dionti Davis will return in September to train Schomburg and NYPL staff on use of The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. The Schomburg is one of the newest subscribers of the Digital Archive.
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THE HISTORYMAKERS' FAVORITE QUOTES:
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"
You never could tell what thoughts and actions would do in bringing you hate or love. For thoughts of things will have wings and they will travel like a carrier dove. Each thing must create it's kind as it travels over the track to bring back whatever is left out of your mind."
(Paraphrased from Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem 'Thoughts Are Things')
-
William Davis (1926 - ), Research and Food Chemist and brother of the late actor and civic activist Ossie Davis (1917-2005)
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Please share with us your stories of how you incorporate The HistoryMakers Digital Archive into your curriculum and research. We'd love to hear from you!
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STAY TUNED FOR NEW CONTENT IN
THE HISTORYMAKERS DIGITAL ARCHIVE
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3. Josh Cyril Barker, “Black Governors in the U.S. of A.,”
New York Amsterdam News,
Vol. 99 No.13 (March 20, 2008): 1-2.
4. The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder (The HistoryMakers A2004.105), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, July 22, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 7, story 2, The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder explains why he decided to run for Governor of Virginia.
5. Press Coverage of Black Statewide Candidates: The Case of L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia,”
Journal of Black Studies,
Vol. 32 No. 6 (July, 2002): 677-680.
7. Eddie Jenkins, Jr. (The HistoryMakers A2007.068), interviewed by Larry Crowe, February 14, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 9, Eddie Jenkins, Jr. describes his admiration of HistoryMaker and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.
8. The Honorable David A. Paterson (The HistoryMakers A2017.055), interviewed by Harriette Cole, April 11, 2017.
9. Gwen Ifill (The HistoryMakers A2012.058), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, March 22, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 2, tape 7, story 1, Gwen Ifill describes the process of writing her book 'The Breakthrough: Race and Politics in the Age of Obama'.
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The HistoryMakers Digital Archive
? We want to fix it! Send a brief description of the error to:
digitalarchive@thehistorymakers.org
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The HistoryMakers Digital Archive
to:
digitalarchive@thehistorymakers.org
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