People, Locations, Episodes

The First Black Mayor of Selma, Alabama is Elected

On this date in 2000, Selma, Alabama, Black businessman James Perkins defeated White incumbent Joe Smitherman for mayor. Smitherman, a former segregationist, was first elected before the bloody civil rights march of 1965.

Perkins became the first African American mayor of that pivotal southern city a focal point of the Civil Rights movement.

Perkins received 6,326 votes, 57 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan runoff which featured a heavy turnout. Smitherman had 4,854 votes, 43 percent.

Voting Rights For Black Felons in America, a story

*Elections in America are held in November and this date’s Registry looks at the National voting process in Black America.

America’s First Black Secretary of State is Appointed

On this date in 2000, Colin Powell was appointed as United States Secretary of State. Accepting President-elect George W. Bush’s nomination to be the America’s 65th Secretary of State, Powell became the first African American to hold that position.

Powell, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had presided over Operation Desert Storm during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He said, “If you want to be successful in the 21st century, you must find your path to democracy, market economics and a system which frees the talents of men and women to pursue their individual destinies.”

The First Black Secretary of Education is Confirmed

*The United States Senate confirmed Rod Paige as the Secretary of Education on this date 2001.

The first African American secretary of education is from Monticello, Mississippi and is the son of public school educators. He served for a decade as Dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University.

He also established the university’s Center for Excellence in Urban Education, a research facility that concentrates on issues related to instruction and management in urban school systems.

The Civil Rights Commission Reports on the 2000 Presidential Election

On this date in 2001, the United States Civil Rights Commission, headed by Mary Frances Berry, issued the results of its six-month long study to the November 2000 presidential election.

The report concluded that minority voters were disenfranchised by the methods used in the Florida election. It noted that Blacks were 10 times more likely than whites to have their ballots rejected and Black voting districts were disproportionately hindered by old and error prone voting equipment.

A White Policeman is Acquitted for Killing a Black Youth

On this date in 2001, a white police officer in Cincinnati, OH, was acquitted in the killing of an unarmed black man. The killing sparked that city’s worst racial unrest in three decades.

The ‘No Fear Act’ is Signed into Law

On this date in 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No FEAR Act.

The Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR ACT), was the first civil rights law of the 21st century. No FEAR, among other things, requires agencies to make employees aware of discrimination and whistle blower protection laws. This provision is the result of the tireless work of Marsha Coleman-Adebayo.

The African Union (AU) is formed

*On this date in 2002, the African Union (AU) was formed. This African continental union consists of 55 member states located in Africa. The African Union has both political and administrative bodies. The highest decision-making organ is the Assembly of the African Union, comprised of all the heads of state or government of member states […]

The ‘Help America Vote Act’ is Signed

*On this date in 2002, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) became law.  This is a United States federal law that was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The bill was drafted (at least partly) in reaction to the controversy surrounding the 2000 U.S. presidential election when the Florida Central Voter File disqualified almost […]

Trent Lott Resigns As Senate Majority Leader

On this date in 2002, Trent Lott, a White Republican senator from Mississippi, resigned his position as Senate majority leader.

Lott’s tumble followed a tribute that he gave earlier in the month at Senator Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party. The Mississippian hailed the respected South Carolinian and said he thought the nation would have been better off if Thurmond had won his campaign for the presidency in 1948. Thurmond ran as a Dixiecrat at the time, on a segregationist platform.

The Supreme Court Reaffirms Affirmative Action

On this date in 2003, the U. S. Supreme Court upheld affirmative action.

A divided Supreme Court reaffirmed colleges’ right to give an edge to minority applicants to attain campus diversity, but raised the threshold in hopes of ending affirmative action within 25 years. While the 5-4 decision found that the University of Michigan law school’s race-based admissions system meets “a compelling government interest,” the court gave a separate victory to opponents of affirmative action.

Grutter v. Bollinger is Decided

*Grutter v. Bollinger was decided on this date in 2003.  This was a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court concerning affirmative action in student admissions. The Court held that a student admissions process that favors “underrepresented minority groups” does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause so long as it considers other […]

The Bill to Create The African American Museum and Culture is Signed

On this date in 2003, H.R. 3491 was signed into law, launching the National Museum of African American History.

Signed by President George W. Bush in the Oval Office, the act authorizes the creation of a Smithsonian Institution museum dedicated to the legacy of African Americans in America.

The bill also states that a site should be selected within 12 months. The museum could be opened by 2013.

The Pan-African Parliament is founded

*On this date in 2004, The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) was founded.   Also known as the African Parliament, it is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. For the first five years, the Parliament exercised oversight and had advisory and consultative powers. Initially, the seat of the Pan-African […]

Black Man Freed From Prison After 41 years

*On this date in 2004, a 76-year-old African American prisoner walked out of jail, a free man after 41 years of imprisonment.

Texas State District Judge David Wilson dismissed the conviction against Robert Carroll Coney, convicted of a 1962 robbery. Showing a surprising lack of bitterness as he left Angelina County Jail with his wife on Tuesday Coney said. “I’m going to try to pick up the pieces.” Coney said his identity had been confused with a man he had carpooled with through Lufkin, TX on the day of the crime: March 7, 1962.