The First African American Senator: Hiram Revels (R)

Hiram Rhodes Revels, was appointed by the Mississippi state legislature to an unexpired term in 1870. He was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate, and in the U.S. Congress overall. He represented Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during Reconstruction. 

NOTE: Prior to the 17th Amendment in 1913, U.S. Senators were elected by state legislatures. 

 (Photo: Source: Wikipedia)

Hiram Rhodes Revels (September 27, 1827 – January 16, 1901) was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), and a Republican politician. He was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate, and in the U.S. Congress overall. 

On February 25, 1870, visitors in the Senate galleries burst into applause as senator-elect Hiram Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, entered the chamber to take his oath of office. Those present knew that they were witnessing an event of great historical significance. Revels was about to become the first African American to serve in the Senate. Born 42 years earlier to free black parents in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Revels became an educator and minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. During the Civil War, he helped form regiments of African American soldiers and established schools for freed slaves. 

After the war, Revels moved to Mississippi, where he won election to the state senate. In recognition of his hard work and leadership skills, his legislative colleagues elected him to one of Mississippi's vacant U.S. Senate seats as that state prepared to rejoin the Union. Revels' credentials arrived in the Senate on February 23, 1870, and were immediately blocked by a few members who had no desire to see a black man serve in Congress. 

Masking their racist views, they argued that Revels had not been a U.S. citizen for the nine years required of all senators. In their distorted interpretation, black Americans had only become citizens with the passage of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, just four years earlier. Revels' supporters dismissed that statement, pointing out that he had been a voter many years earlier in Ohio and was therefore certainly a citizen.

(Source: Senate.gov)

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CHAVOUS: An Open Letter to Black Elected Officials

Kevin P. Chavous, an attorney, author, national education reform leader, and former Democratic Party politician in Washington, D.C., makes the case for school choice and charter schools. 

Each year, various social service organizations issue reports relating to the state of black America. While issues such as affordable housing, jobs, crime and challenging family dynamics are generally discussed, the poor quality of the education received by far too many African-American children continues to be a focal point found in these reports. The facts don't lie. According to John Hopkins University, 32 percent of African-American students drop out of high school nationally — 15 percentage points higher than their white counterparts. In urban school districts with a high concentration of low-income and minority students, the gap is widened and graduation rates are even lower. 

According to the Schott Report on Black Males in Public Education, African-American males have the lowest graduation rates out of any other race in 38 of our nation’s 50 states, a 76 percent majority. For over a decade, African-American students have been the least likely to obtain a high school diploma out of every racial or ethnic group in the United States. Additionally, the achievement gap between African-American and white students has consistently grown or stayed stagnant nationally with white students outperforming their African-American peers by up to 30 points on standardized tests. Not only are African-American students struggling in high school, but they are ill prepared to succeed in higher education. Nearly 63 percent of African-American students enrolled in a full-time, four-year college institution fail to graduate.

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Raynard Jackson - The Republican Party of Virginia and the Black Community

Raynard Jackson, a Republican political consultant, blast the Virginia Republican party, and other Republican state committees for failing to take the lead in engaging the African-American community.

via the New Pittsburgh Courier

Raynard Jackson is a Republican political consultant based in Washington, DC. 

"Unlike the Republican National Committee (RNC), our national party apparatus, most of the 50 state party committees are stuck in the 1960s when it comes to the Black community.  Exhibit A for this was the annual weekend gathering for the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV)  that took place two weeks ago in Dulles, Va., about 25 miles outside of Washington, D.C.  This is a gathering where all the powers that be from across the state gather to plot future strategies that will move the state party forward.

I used to be intimately involved in these annual gatherings, but over the years found them to be increasingly a waste of time. The state party would always invite me to participate or moderate a panel on “minority outreach.”  The panels always turned out to be more talk than action.  In the 90s, I was elected statewide to be national committeeman of the Young Republicans Federation of Virginia, the first and only Black to ever win this office.  In that position, I traveled the state talking to anyone who would listen about the imperative of getting more Blacks involved in our state party.  Suffice it to say that Virginia’s moniker of being the “cradle of the confederacy” is well deserved.

Despite the lack of interest by the Republic Party of Virginia in the Black community, Virginia has a long history of statewide elected officials who talked, lived, and breathed real diversity. We had governors such as Jim Gilmore, George Allen, Lt. Gov. John Hager, and Attorney General Mark Earley. They not only earned north of 25 percen7 the Black vote, they had paid Black campaign staffers; and had prominent Blacks throughout their administrations.  These Blacks were placed in decision-making positions and were not just window dressing."

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My view: The [State] Republican committees are likely the [number one] reason why GOP outreach goes no-where, year after year, despite the RNC's efforts. After one Chairman leaves, another comes in leaving GOP State committees unaccountable for their gross performances. There are a few exceptions, like in California, but for the most part most local State power-brokers in both the GOP and conservative base have no interest in reaching beyond their White base. They will only engage Blacks when they are up against a wall, like in Mississippi, in the case of Sen. Thad Cochran.

Truth be told, if GOP State committees were a company responsible for growing their brand, they'd all be fired by now.