Signal Boost 1 - The Original Black Caucus of Congress

In the last year there's been a troupe going around that black people did not get the vote until the 1960s. I understand where the thought comes from,because white people fought like hell to take away the rights of Black Men (until 1920 and then also Black Women) to vote. But it is a pet peeve of mine because (1) it is legally and factually inaccurate; (2) it white-washes history; (3) it makes invisible the backlash and intentional efforts of white people to take away the voting rights of black people; (4) it helps maintain a culture where we need a Voting Rights Act to try and protect constitutional rights. 

The Fifteenth Amendment is unequivocal: 

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Efforts to deny the right to vote should have been unconstitutional (and still should be, including any and all laws which do not allow people to immediately have their voting rights back after they have finished any criminal sentence). 

My first series of Signal Boosts is going to be about the members of Congress elected after enslaving other human beings was finally abolished. My source of information is "Black Americans in Congress 1870-2007." This was prepared under the direction of The Committee on House Administration for the U.S. House of Representatives and lists Robert A. Brady, Chairman and Vernon J. Ehlers, Ranking Minority Member. Despite being a paper back book, it is heavier than most of my law school books and packed with information. 

The book identifies what it calls "The Symbolic Generation" - a group of 17 Black Congressional Represented (yes all "Congressmen" but I believe in using gender neutral terms), including eight formally enslaved people were in Congress. They specifically worked to improve the lives of their black constituents and all black people in the U.S. 

According to the book, they had three primary goals: providing education, enforcing political rights, and extending opportunities to enable economic independence. 

The First Black Members of Congress were: 

• Hiram Roach, Senate
• Jefferson Long, House
• Joseph Rainey, House
• Benjamin Turner, House
• Robert DeLarge, House
• Robert Elliott, House
• Josiah Walls, House
• Richard Cain, House
• John Lynch, House
• Alonso Ransier, House
• John Hyman, House 
• Charles Nash, House
• Robert Smalls, House
• James O'Hara, House

My future posts will be about these men. About providing a signal boost for their legacy.