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HomeMy WebLinkAboutShe left a legacy, newspaper clipping, (01/18/1999)`She left us a legacy ' , - If 1"7 B -CS leaders remember Barbara Jordan By TODD BERGMANN Eagle staff writer America lost a leader with char- acter when former congress- woman Barbara Jordan died, lead- ers in Bryan and College Station said. Jordan, the first black elect- ed to Congress x %� from the South s i n c e } Y ; Reconstruction, ' .,::. r,:r.•: <::: =:> died Wednesday JORDAN at age 59. The former Texas representative grabbed the national spotlight while giving the keynote speech to the 1976 Democratic Convention in New York. "She's been a role model since she delivered that speech," said Bill Green, a Bryan florist and associate pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church. "She left us a legacy, not only for the black community, but for all the American community." Like Martin Luther King Jr., Jordan did not focus on narrow issues, but on all humanity, Green said. "We didn't look at her as a black or a woman," Green said. "She was Barbara Jordan." Green and Marilyn Foxworth, associate professor of journalism at Texas A&M and author of "Aunt "We didn't look at her C1 a black or a woman. She was Barbara Jordan." BILL GREEN Bryan florist and associate pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church Jemima, Uncle Ben and Rastus: Blacks in Advertising, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," said Jordan will be known for her char- acter and leadership. In 1974, she served on the House Judiciary Committee that worked on charges to impeach President Richard M. Nixon. King and Jordan looked at the world in absolute moral terms, Green said. "If it's wrong, it's wrong. If it's unjust, it's unjust," he said. Foxworth said, "We have people who are great administrators and managers, but they do not have moral character to be leaders. She had the moral character, tenacity and fiber to be a leader. We have leaders today that are lacking in some of those qualifications." Congressman John Bryant, the Inside ■ Editorial /All Dallas Democrat who represents North Bryan, said, "In life, in the practice of law, in teaching, in pol- itics and in government, Barbara Jordan was an ethical and intellec- tual giant who brought honor to Texas and public service. "Her moral leadership, her scholarship, her commitment to ethics in government, fairness in public policy and equality in all things American inspired genera- tions and will serve as a lasting legacy." Similarly, state Rep. Steve Ogden, a Bryan Republican, said, "Her personal presence and moral authority set her apart from many public figures, whether you agreed with her or not. She spoke sincere- ly and in accordance with her prin- ciples. We need more public fig- ures like her." Ronnie Jackson, youth services director for Bryan, said Jordan "was always above politics." "People respected her intellect," he said. "She has been a commen- surate professional as well as a respected statesman." Jackson said his mother and Please see,JORDAN, page A8 Jordan From Al Jordan attended Texas Southern University at the same time, but did not know each other. "It was a family tradition for us to watch her career," Jackson said. Fred Ford, a parent and com- munity service liaison for College Station schools and pas- tor of New Zion Missionary Baptist Church, said "I am sad- dened not because she has passed, but because I do not see so many African-American males and females that can live up to her expectations. I don't think there is going to be another Barbara Jordan." Black history courses in schools will help another genera- tion fill this void, Ford said. The daughter of a Baptist min- ister, Jordan served in the Texas State Senate from 1966 to 1972 and in Congress from 1973 to 1979. While growing up in Houston, Jordan's father demanded she bring home A's. She did. Bryan Councilwoman Annette Stephney said Jordan was a suc- cess. "She was an influence on me," she said. "She'll influence black females to strive for what they want." Since leaving Congress, Jordan taught at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. She had been ill for several years, suffer- ing from multiple sclerosis. Foxworth attempted to meet with Jordan about a year ago at the University of Texas, but never could fit it into both their schedules. "One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I could have spo- ken with her, but now I won't get the chance," she said. Quote of the day: "`We, the people., It is a very eloquent beginning. But when that document was com- pleted on the 17th of September in 1787, 1 was not included in that `We, the people.' I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, inter- pretation and court decision have finally been included in "We, the people.," — Rep. Barbara Jordan, during the debate over impeaching President Richard M. Nixon in July 1974. Jordan died Wednesday at age 59. Our View Barbara Jordan was America's conscience Eagle Editorial Board ho could listen to Barbara Jordan and not hear the conscience of America? At a time of great politi- cal crisis in this country, her voice of rea- son and resolve served as a rallying point for Americans -who believe in a nation in which no person is above the law, not even the president of the United States. "My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total," then -Rep. Jordan said from the House Judiciary Committee, then conducting impeach- ment hearings on President Richard M. Nixon. Barbara Jordan died at the age of 59 of pneumonia on Wednesday after suffering years of complications from multiple sclerosis and, more recently, leukemia. Her mighty voice has been stilled, but her abiding sense of integrity and moral- ity will be a legacy by which we will mea- sure not only, other politicians but our- selves in the years to come. The daughter of a Baptist minister, Jordan graduated with honors from Texas Southern University and with a law degree from Boston University at a time when opportunities in the law for blacks and for women were limited, let alone for black women. So she volun- teered at Harris County Democratic headquarters, where she was put to work addressing envelopes and licking stamps, as she recalled. At a black voter registration drive, the guest speaker failed to appear and Jordan was pressed into service at the last minute. "I volunteered to speak in her place and right after that, they took me off licking and addressing," she later said with her delicious sense of humor. She twice ran at large for a state Senate seat from Houston, but lost. After the Supreme Court's one-man, one -vote rule, Jordan was elected in 1966 on her third try, becoming the first black woman ever elected to the Legislature and the African American in the state's upper chamber since 1883. There, she won praise from even the most hardened of separatists. In 1972, she and Andrew Young of Georgia became the first African Americans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the South since Reconstruction. The Watergate scandal brought Jordan to national fame, where millions of Americans were mesmerized by her sonorous voice, her moral outrage and her confidence in this nation. She stepped down from Congress after three terms and began teaching at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. She remained in the national spotlight with powerful speeches at Democratic conventions in 1976 and 1992. At the last one, she said, "We need to change the decaying inner cities from decay to places where hope lives. As we undergo that change, we must be pre- pared to answer Rodney King's haunting question `Can we all get along?' I say we answer that question with a resounding yes." Though plagued by ill health, Jordan remained an active observer of the American scene. After her death, Gov. George W. Bush praised her as "a cham- pion of our freedom, constitution and laws." With the revival of interest in Richard Nixon enflamed by Oliver Stone's new movie, there should be a renewal of inter- est in Barbara Jordan. Her life of devo- tion to this country and its laws is an example we can demand that each of us follow. There may never be another politician the likes of Barbara Jordan. We can be thankful that we had her for so long and at the time in which she served. That we survived the dark days of 1974 is due in no small measure to her. T heEagle Opinions expressed above are those of the Editorial Board. Members of the board are: Donnis Baggett Publisher and editor Rod Armstrong Bernard Hunt Finance director Executive editor Robert C. Borden Kelli Levey Opinions editor City editor