So, impeachment has come and gone. Bernie Sanders is still a democratic socialist and no one will let Michael Bloomberg forget “stop and frisk.” The political season is in full bloom and for the next ten months or so we’re going to be inundated with political punditry and opinions about what will happen if so-and-so becomes president. There’s no question that political participation is a vital part of this democracy. Especially for the black community. Political participation is the defining part of citizenship.
On the eve of the Civil War, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger Taney, declared that the Founding Fathers never considered blacks, slave or free, as citizens of the new Republic. In fact, he argued that the Founding Fathers never intended to give citizenship to blacks, slave or free. How could an inferior species really appreciate the dynamics of a representative democracy? Even if the economy of that democracy would be built on the scarred backs of slaves. Those very slaves whose sweat cultivated acres of farmland, whose blood often flowed from wounds when the taskmaster used a whip to reinforce his superiority, and whose tears flowed at the thought of loved ones being sold away. Yep, that same inferior species they didn’t believe could enjoy the very democracy and freedoms they so eloquently presented as the basis of the revolution from England. But then again, the Founding Fathers weren’t savages. They just committed genocide against the indigenous peoples of this land and bought and sold human bodies as commodities and then used religion to justify their all their actions.
Even though the Civil War formally ended slavery and brought citizenship to black males (at least on paper), full political participation would not occur for another one hundred years. This is when the story becomes uncomfortable for some. The history of this democracy in the 1940s-1970s is one of violence and broken promises. Those committed to white supremacy vowed never to accept blacks as social and political equals and did everything in their power to deny, or at the very least delay, integration and the dismantling of Jim Crow.
In the sixties, black athletes began appearing in the old Southwest Conference. Slowly but surely, one school after another welcomed these trailblazers. Jerry LeVias, Roosevelt Leaks, and even the great Earl Campbell changed the landscape of college football, and sports in general, during those early years of athletic integration. But, that was athletic integration. While the Southwest Conference no longer exists, black athletes are an all too common sight on college football fields and college basketball courts throughout Texas now. And some of these black football players even have the audacity to play quarterback, something this democracy said was implausible forty years ago. After all, an inferior species doesn’t have the mental capacities to comprehend the complexities of football. I guess Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick, and Deshaun Watson didn’t know they couldn’t enjoy success in the NFL. How dare they. But I digress.
There’s no question society has changed when it comes to athletics. But what about the classroom? Data indicates that the numbers of black students at the University of Texas is 4 percent; Texas A&M University has 3 percent; 6 percent at Baylor; and only 4 percent at SMU. The point is that integration occurred on the playing field because college sports are a big business these days. An appearance in an end-of-year bowl game is worth millions of dollars. So, of course, black athletes are everywhere in college football. They’re a money-maker for institutions who still believe blacks to be an inferior species and not deserving of a place in their classrooms. How can an institution of 50,000 students only have a total black enrollment of 1,500 call that progress?
So what does this have to do with political participation? Some in the black community believe the struggle is over. Suburban communities are within financial reach, enrollment in private schools is a possibility, and even the presidency of this democracy can be a reality. Surely, some in the black community have achieved that which our grandfathers and great grandfathers probably thought was impossible. But, sadly, too many in the black community today still struggle with poverty, substandard housing and schools, and low enrollment in colleges and universities, but high enrollment in prisons and jails.
So, in the next ten months or so I expect teams of political aides to bombard my campus trying to get access to my students to encourage them to vote for one candidate or another. That’s ok. Political participation is a requisite for citizenship and I want all my students to know that they are full citizens in this democracy. The challenge is to act like it. The challenge is to recognize that not everyone that looks like them has the opportunity to attend an institute of higher education. The challenge is to pay homage to those whose blood, sweat and tired marching feet made their opportunity a reality. Lastly, the challenge is to graduate and step into the fullness this life has to offer.
Certainly political participation is a requisite of citizenship. But I won’t allow anyone to diminish that right by insinuating the struggle is over. Far from it. If anything, the last few years have demonstrated that there are still those who believe blacks are an inferior species. They didn’t go the way of the dinosaurs as many wanted to believe. Instead, it seems as if these bigots merely retreated to their private rooms and meetings places waiting for the day when they can reemerge from the shadows and claim their rightful place in this democracy. After all, it’s theirs, isn’t it?
Hmm.
Later.