During the 18 years following the conclusion of the Civil War, the state of Texas elected 3 African-Americans to the State Senate. There were also 32 African-Americans elected to the State House of Representatives during that time.
1883 was the year that the Texas State Senate saw its last African-American member leave office for quite some time. In fact, an effective combination of law changes and state voting redistricting resulted in an 83-year drought, finally ending when Barbara Jordan was elected to the Texas State Senate in 1966.
President Obama could serve two terms, ending 7 years from now. If the Presidency then saw an additional 83-year gap between black Presidents, then we’re looking at 90 years from now until the next one. Unthinkable? Perhaps – but wouldn’t it have been equally unthinkable to the people of Texas who elected those first three African-American State Senators that it would be close to a hundred years before another one was elected?
