Standing in the Schoolhouse Door

Flashback…June 11, 1963. Keeping a campaign promise, then Democratic Governor of Alabama, George C. Wallace “stood in the schoolhouse door” to block James A. Hood and Vivian J. Malone from registering at the University of Alabama. You see Hood and Malone did nothing wrong other than have the audacity to think that they could become students at the University of Alabama. Oh, did I forget to mention that they both are Black. How dare two Negroes [that is what they called us then] want to enter our prestigious institution of higher learning and sit in the same classroom with our white children. Wallace stood in the door until the federalized Alabama National Guard was called in by President John Kennedy to break up this “perception of freedom gone wild.”

Governor Wallace had been a staunch segregationist who was catering to his constituency. Wallace and Alabama had become the face of segregation and hate during the Civil Rights movement. I guess Mr. Wallace was getting back at the Blacks for supporting him in his first bid to become Governor in 1958. Wallace had refused the support of the Ku Klux Klan but accepted that of the NAACP and later lost his election bid in a runoff to John Patterson. This put him on his path of socio-political ideology of segregation. Remember that this Democrat made this statement as well “In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

So much for the history lesson!

Let’s fast forward to December 30, 2008. Governor Rod Blagojevich named former Illinois Attorney General, Roland Burris, to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. Why and who cares? Well most of Americans now know the names of the governors of Alaska and Illinois because of our mass media. Blagojevich is the Illinois governor who was recorded by the F. B. I. trying to sell or trade to the highest bidder the Senate seat vacated by the election of Obama to the Presidency. The Illinois state government is currently holding hearings on how they can impeach this governor and many have asked for his resignation (including Obama) which the governor has refused to do. Since he is still the governor of Illinois and he has the authority and power to appoint whomever he feels to the U.S. Senate seat that is now vacant. This power is granted him by the laws of the state of Illinois. Oh and did I fail to mention that Burris is Black!

Herein lays the rub!

Are the Democrats “standing in the schoolhouse door” again?
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has stated that he (the Senate) would not seat Mr. Burris. He indicated that Mr. Burris was “tainted” by Governor Blagojevich. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois also indicated that the U.S. Senate would not seat Mr. Burris even though the Illinois governor has the authority to appoint whomever yet the Senate has the right to determine if the person was chosen in a legal manner. Are the Democrats not seating Burris because of his skin color? There have only been three Black U.S. Senators in the modern era: Edward Brooke of Massachusetts (1967-1979), Carol Mosley Braun of Illinois (1993-1999) and Barack Obama of Illinois (2005-2008). Burris would represent the fourth.

I doubt that this is a racial issue although Mr. Reid is such a knucklehead and has backed off and now considers some form of negotiation to seat Mr. Burris. As for Mr. Burris his ego is so large that he did not think this thing out. I would not want the guilt by association tag. But I guess Mr. Burris wanted to be a Senator more than life itself, being that he has run for Mayor of Chicago, Senator and three times for governor and lost each time. Appointment is the next best thing for the resume. He was elected as the States first black executive as Comptroller and later as Attorney General. But where are his antennae? We do not convert to digital TV until February 19 so I know his TV is working. Good luck you Mr. Burris. You will be the next Senator from Illinois. Your appointment is legal and Harry Reid knows it.