A New Era for Black Political Power

This year we have lost two legendary veteran Black lawmakers, both of whom symbolized the promise and fulfillment of the struggle for political representation in the halls of Congress. Parren J. Mitchell, Maryland’s first Black member of Congress, and Augustus F. Hawkins, the first Black to represent the state of California in the House of Representatives, were two pioneering figures who understood power and used their status to address inequities in our society. The lives of both of these men offer an important case study on why who represents us is still important.

Augustus Hawkins, who was 100 when he died two weeks ago, arrived on Capitol Hill in the throes of the civil rights movement. Elected in 1962 after having served in the California legislature, Hawkins was a sponsor of the equal employment provision of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. That provision created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, the federal agency that oversees employment discrimination claims. He was also a persistent voice calling for increases in the federal minimum wage.

Hawkins was also a force behind the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) and the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of 1977, which created jobs for young people in conservation and community-based activities. As a member of the House, he joined forces with another legendary progressive, Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, to enact legislation that sought to reduce unemployment and inflation – the Humphrey-Hawkins Act of 1978. Late in his career he would chair the House Education and Labor Committee.

Who represents us
is still important

Another legacy of Augustus Hawkins is the role he played with New York’s Adam Clayton Powell in creating the Democratic Select Committee, the group that eventually became the Congressional Black Caucus.

Similarly, Parren J. Mitchell arrived in Washington after years of involvement in the struggle for equal rights in his native Baltimore. A member of the prominent Mitchell family, his brother was longtime NAACP Washington lobbyist Clarence Mitchell. After graduating from historically Black Morgan State University, Parren Mitchell sued to gain admission to the University of Maryland and became its first Black graduate student. His arrival in Congress in 1971 was historic as he was the first Black elected from a state below the Mason Dixon line since 1898.

One of his first actions in Congress was to lead a boycott of President Nixon’s State of the Union address because the president refused to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus. Mitchell spearheaded efforts to support Black business development, serving as the first Black to chair the House Small Business Committee.

Power for a Purpose

Augustus Hawkins and Parren Mitchell arrived in our nation’s capital ready to work. When President Lyndon Johnson launched his “War on Poverty,” Hawkins was one of the administration’s most vocal supporters and used his position to secure federal support when the 1965 Watts riot inflicted damage upon part of the district he represented.

Mitchell once attached an amendment to a bill requiring cities and states that received federal funding to award 10 percent to minority owned companies. He also sponsored the bill that required contractors to stipulate their goals in contracting with minority firms. Both bills established the practice of minority set-asides that a conservative Supreme Court would significantly limit years later.

What the careers of Augustus Hawkins and Parren Mitchell teach us is that when our representatives have power, and use it, our community, and by effect, our nation, is well served. It is why who we send to Congress and the committees on which they sit are critical to our well-being. It was the likes of these two men, and Barbara Jordan, William Clay, and countless others, that has enabled today’s members of the Congressional Black Caucus to be in position to effect public policy on issues that matter to the Black community.

Though the Caucus has been primarily populated by Democrats, we should be mindful of its unofficial motto – “No Permanent Friends. No Permanent Enemies. Just Permanent Interests.” Today, with 39 members, the Caucus is a vital voting bloc of the Democratic Party in Congress and has the leverage to determine the majority party’s legislative priorities.

New Political Era

Our present Black leadership in Congress has an opportunity to continue the legacy of Hawkins and Mitchell, and there are some promising signs that they are prepared to do just that. Recently the Congressional Black Caucus teamed up with their Latino and Asian colleagues to demand that Democratic leadership stand up for children of color in the battle over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program or S-CHIP. Their stand is a critically important reminder that power only has meaning when it is exercised. Rather than simply fall in line with their own party’s leadership, the members of the Black Caucus made it clear that their expectation was for the Democrats to take a principled stand in the ongoing battle with President Bush and would not accept a compromise that sells out our community.

By holding sway over key committees, Black members of Congress are in a powerful position to be heard and influence public policy in a way that may allow us to address some of the most challenging problems facing our community. We now have more leverage than we ever had but this newfound power will only be meaningful if we are disciplined in how we use it and strategic in its application. It is the legacy that Augustus Hawkins and Parren Mitchell leave us.

From the New York Amsterdam News
November 29 – December 5, 2007