Remarks prepared for delivery to the Black American Political Association of California, Sacramento, California, concerning a black presidential candidate, 1983 October 8

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Copyright, 1983 By Julian Bond Black American political association of California Sacramento, California October 8, 1983

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

It was over 125 years ago - in 1855 - that the first convention of California blacks was held in this state.

They met here, in Sacramento, in the colored methodist church, from November 20 through the 22, 1855.

In an "address to the people of California", a convention leader, J. H. Townsend of San Francisco, spelled out the greivances felt by California black people more than 100 years ago.

He said then:

*1"The colored citizens of this commonwealth, would respectfully represent before you, their state and condition; and they respectfully ask a candid and careful investigation of facts in relation to their true character.

Most of us were born upon your soil; reared up under the influence of your institutions; become familiar with your manners and customs; acquired most of your habits, and adopted your policies. We yield allegiance to no other country save this. With all her faults we love her still.

Our forefathers were among the first who took up arms and

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fought side by side with yours; poured out their blood freely in the struggle for American independence. They fought, as they had every reason to suppose, the good fight of liberty, until it finally triumphed.

In the war of 1812, in which you achieved independence and glory upon the seas, the colored men were also among the foremost to engage in the conflict, rendering efficient service in behalf of their common country. Through a long series of years have we been always ready to lay down our lives for the common weal, in defense of the national honor. On the other hand, instead of treating us as good and loyal citizens, you have treated us as aliens; sought to degrade us in all walks of life; proscribed us in church and state as an ignorant and debased class, unworthy the sympathy and regard of men; without examining into our true character, you have allowed yourselves to become bitterly prejudiced against us. When we have spoken of the wrongs inflicted upon us, you have turned a deaf ear to our representations and entreaties, or spurned us from you.

We again call upon you to regard our condition in the state of California. We point with pride to the general character we maintain in your midst, for integrity, industry, and thrift. You have been wont to multiply our vices, and never to see our virtues. You call upon us to pay enormous taxes to support government, at the same time you deny us the protection you extend to others; the security for life and property. You require us to be good citizens, while seeking to degrade us".

*Proceedings of the First State Convention of the Colored Citizens of the State of California...(Sacramento, 1855).

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33 years later, Fredrick Douglass received a single vote at the 1888 Republican convention in Chicago making him the first black to receive such attention from a major political party. Douglass recorded another such first as well; sixteen years earlier, in 1872, he was nominated in absentia for vice-president by the newly-formed equal rights party.

The presidential nominee was Victoria Woodhull, a suffragist.

Douglass was chosen because of his reputation, and because he was black. Symbolism was important, even then.

"We have the oppressed sex represented by Woodhull", said the man who nominated him. "We must have the oppressed race represented by Douglass."

Douglass declined the Nomination, Ulysses S. Grant was nominated by the republicans, Horace Greely by the Democrats, and Grant won.

One hundred and eleven years later, no issue has divided America's black political community as much as the question of whether -- and if so, with whom -- blacks ought to once again contest the presidency in next year's democratic primaries.

Former friends have bcome instant enemies as they dig in and settle down on various sides of this debate.

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Nominal allies have become at least temporary opponents as the benefits and dangers of running and not running are argued with at least as much heat as light.

The question takes on a special urgency because of what is at stake next year - not electing a black person president, but rejecting the president more hostile to our concerns than any other.

For three years we've lived under an administration run by an amiable incompetent, the architect of avarice and social policy.

When he first took office, we were fearful -- today we know what real fear is.

Then, we thought our civil rights were in jeopardy -- today we see them swiftly slipping away.

Then, Reaganomics was an unproved economic theory -- today it remains an unproved theory, but its application threatens to make the depression look like a Sunday school picnic.

From Buffalo to Gary, the United States is in its worst depression in 50 years. Plants are closed daily, shifts are laid off.

Eighty-eight percent of black youth are jobless in Gary; 83 percent in Riverside, California; 80 percent in Youngstown, Ohio; and 79 percent in Montgomery, Alabama.

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By mid-summer, 100,000 young people in New York City had become discouraged workers -- abandoning the search for jobs in a society which has abandoned them.

Ten percent of our work force is idle.

Thirty percent of our manufacturing capacity is at rest.

Fifty-seven cents of every federal tax dollar is committed to militarily-related expenses.

Two-thirds of the interest payments on the National debt are war-related.

Our government opposes abortion, and supports the death penalty -- they believe life begins at conception and ends at birth.

They intend to rearrange America to fit their sterile vision, to force conformity with their small minds and smaller dreams. Riding the crest of a wave of antagonism against those Americans who cannot do for themselves, they intend to impose an awful austerity on us all.

This Conservative confederacy intends as well to take the federal government entirely out of the business of enforcing equal opportunity in America.

They intend to eliminate affirmative action for women and

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