Our six Black Presidents

“The Six Black U. S. Presidents” 

The black communities nationwide have been buzzing about the possibilities of having a black president of the United States in 1984, 1988 and 2008. In newspaper article after newspaper article and talk show after talk show, various black leaders have been discussing the mechanics of making this dream a reality. While our eyes are directed toward a “Black White House" in the future, we fail to give credit to black presidents we have had in the past. Believe it or not there have really been black presidents of the United States in the past. 

According to noted Black Historian, J. A. Rogers, there have been five such Presidents. In his book “The Five Negro Presidents” Rogers traced the ancestries of Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and Warren G.  Harding and  found strains of negro blood. Even the great President Abraham Lincoln, architect of a unique phenomenon known as “Perpetuation of Racial Entitlement,” and often referred to as Abraham “Africanus” Lincoln and depicted as a negro by his opponents had a black leaf hanging from his family tree. As can be expected, other researchers said that Roger’s references lack sufficient evidence to substantiate the claim that these presidents actually had negro blood. 

Although these researchers and the nation as a whole refuse to acknowledge the possibilities of a black president in the past, there have been notable blacks in politics since the period of reconstruction. Senator P.B.S. Pinchback was appointed as Louisiana’s 25th governor from December 9, 1872 to January 13, 1873, while William Hastie became the first black federal judge in 1937.  Appointed to the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1946, he soon became the governor of this unincorporated U.S. Colony.  These outstanding politicians joined the ranks of approximately 211 black mayors and 40 black congressional members. As of America Votes 2012, six of the most powerful and prestigious political positions in the United States are occupied by 658 black mayors, 43 black members of the U.S. House of Representatives, one black governor, 2 black members of the U.S. Senate and 1 black Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Historically the nation has never accepted the notion of a black holding such a powerful political position. Through the use of the media and every other suppressing method, society has actually opposed the idea. A prime example, D.W. Griffin’s academy award winner, “The Birth of a Nation”, made headlines when it premiered in Los Angeles on February 8, 1915. In this controversial movie, he depicted black congress members as being illiterate, lusting for white women and incapable of passing meaningful legislation. Griffin’s obsession with racism greatly obstructed a historical perspective of outstanding black politicians in addition to providing the stereotype American society used to keep blacks powerless. 

The year 1978 was also faced with strong racist opposition and skepticism to the idea of having a black politician in a powerful position. For example, at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, 

members of the post Equal Opportunity Staff Office created a poster portraying a black man as the president of the United States. As soon as the Director of Personnel and Community Affairs became aware that the poster projected a black man as president of the United States, he immediately ordered all production and distribution of the poster stopped. His primary reason was that the perception of the Department of Defense, the base itself and neighboring communities may be that Fort Meade was advocating a black man for such a powerful office. In addition, he strongly emphasized the political overtones which the poster allegedly carried. Those were the perceptions of an officer who had served approximately 30 years in the military and was responsible for supervision, health, moral, promotion, education and job assignments for black soldiers. 

When the Director of Personnel and Community Affairs retired a few months later, no significant change in attitude took place. His replacement upheld the attitude of his predecessor. To preclude a reoccurrence of the poster, the new Director of Personnel and Community Affairs submitted a message to the Department of the Army requesting that the senior member (Master Sergeant Cyril A. Estrill, Jr.) of the office responsible for creating the poster be reassigned overseas. The message which the Department of the Army referred to as a “Nasty Gram” read in part: “If service member is not in receipt of assignment instructions within 30 days from this report, individual will be locally reassigned in other than primary occupational specialty”.  This order is documented in Fort Meade Message #021255Z.  As a result of this “Nasty Gram”, in September 1979, the senior member of the Equal Opportunity Staff Office was honored with an Army Commendation Medal for high standards of conduct, integrity, character and outstanding performance of duty; an Enlisted Evaluation Report (EER) for sub-standard conduct, integrity, character and performance of duty, a farewell luncheon and reassignment orders to Nuremburg Military Community, West Germany. 

It seems, however, that the military was not the only institution affected by this attitude. In December 1978, Ebony Magazine conducted a survey to determine if a black man can become president of the United States by the year 2000. Future leaders interpreted the results of the survey as indicating a copious amount of indecisions and skepticism among young blacks. 

In a nationally syndicated article, Julian Bond, Georgia State Senator, first African American and youngest vice-presidential nominee and current chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, posed the following question: “Who has your support for president in 1984?” Bond stated. “The Reagan program of weakening the protection and narrowing the remedies available to the victims of discrimination has escaped all the democratic candidates so far. Or else they’ve decided that black voters will, like other Americans, ignore the destruction of their liberties and protections, and choose from among the candidates by applying non-racial standards. That’s a luxury black voters can’t afford in 1984, unless all other Americans agree to stop imposing racial qualifications as well.” That is also a luxury that black voters cannot afford in 2008. 

Bond’s skepticism of white support for black political candidates is not an isolated incident. In 1984, Tony Brown in his network program Tony Brown’s Journal aggressively made the black community and black politicians aware that the lack of white support of black political candidates is not a thing of the past. He accurately described how the white leaders of the black 

community had once again betrayed Rep. Harold Washington, the only black candidate in the Mayoral primary in Chicago. 

Another sign of mistrust and frustration with the white political machine was evident when black politicians nationwide met in Atlanta to consider a black as a possible candidate for the 1984 presidential race. The coalition discussed possible nominations along with whites’ reaction to such a candidate, additionally our black leaders seriously considered the chances of a black candidate being elected president, the support needed to guarantee his election and the increased political participation and awareness required to make this dream a reality. Despite the Bradley Effect and Hillary Clinton’s and Governor Mitt (47percent) Romney’s political playbook and tenacious white opposition to a black occupying this prestigious position, on January 20, 2013, President Barack Hussein Obama triumphantly evolved from 246 years of slavery, 86 years of lynching, 58 years of Separate But Equal and 52 years of southern manifesto to the White House for a second term as the sixth black U. S. president of the United States of America!