Oscar De Priest

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Oscar Stanton De Priest (March 9, 1871 – May 12, 1951) was an alderman and civil rights activist from Chicago who was the first black Republican to be elected to Congress in the 1900s. He was very vocal in his fight for racial equality, even speaking in the South despite death threats by violent Democrats.

U.S. House of Representatives

Following the death of Republican representative Martin B. Madden, De Priest ran for the House seat in Illinois' 1st congressional district with the backing of William Hale Thompson, the city's mayor.[1] In a contest with four opponents in the 1928 election, he won by seven percentage points,[2] and would be re-elected twice.[3][4]

Soon following his election to the House of Representatives, De Priest's wife, the former Jessie Williams, was invited by First Lady Lou Hoover for tea along with other congressional wives who were tolerant on racial issues.[1] Southern segregationists were in a furious uproar, to which the newly elected De Priest responded:

I want to thank the Democrats of the South for one thing. They were so barbaric they drove my parents to the North. If it had not been for that I wouldn’t be in Congress today. I’ve been Jim Crowed, segregated, persecuted, and I think I know how best the Negro can put a stop to being imposed upon. It is through the ballot, through organization, through eternally fighting for his rights.

De Priest pushed for anti-lynching legislation, the desegregation of the House diner.[1] Although both measures did not pass, he did successfully introduce an amendment which desegregated the 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps. De Priest also said on the House floor regarding the injustices blacks faced:[1]

...I am making these remarks because I want you to know that the American Negro is not satisfied with the treatment he receives in America, and I know of no forum where I can better present the matter than the floor of Congress.

In addition to his powerful civil rights advocacy, De Priest was a conservative who opposed the New Deal as socialistic and believed in initiatives at the local and state level rather than at the federal level.[1] He furthermore advocated for investigating the Communist Party and its subversive efforts. Some civil rights activists who praised his advocacy for fellow blacks would oppose his economic viewpoints, and De Priest lost election in the 1934 midterms to Republican-turned-Democrat Arthur W. Mitchell.[5] a black liberal who supported the New Deal. This marked the first phase of political realignment of Northern black voters from Republican to Democrat, which despite left-wing misconceptions, was largely motivated ultimately on the basis of economics rather than racial issues.[6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 FascinatingPolitics (February 27, 2019). Oscar Stanton De Priest: The First Black Congressman of the 20th Century. Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  2. IL District 1 Race - Nov 06, 1928. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  3. IL District 1 Race - Nov 04, 1930. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  4. IL District 1 Race - Nov 08, 1932. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  5. IL District 1 Race - Nov 06, 1934. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  6. Party Realignment And The New Deal. US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Retrieved July 24, 2021.

External links

  • Profile at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
  • Profile at Find a Grave