Congressman Elijah E. Cummings Proudly Representing Maryland's 7th District

(4/9/00 Baltimore AFRO-American Newspaper)

Women who speak for the common good

by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings

Last month, we honored the great women who have given so much of themselves to form our character as a nation.  My thoughts returned again and again to the woman who, for my generation, came to symbolize the possibility of justice in America.

On July 25, 1974, when a first-term Congresswoman from Texas stepped onto Watergate's historical stage, this country was in serious trouble.  The President was charged with subverting the very constitutional liberties he was pledged to defend.   A decade of assassinations and Viet Nam casualties had left this country skeptical and divided.

With the voice of an Old Testament prophet, the first Black woman ever elected to Congress from the South spoke the words that strengthened America's resolve.  "My faith in the Constitution," Congresswoman Barbara Jordan declared, "is whole, it is complete, it is total."

In Barbara Jordan, America witnessed a testament of faith from a determined African American woman who believed that justice could be restored.   The country took heart from the strength of character we saw in her eyes and heard in her voice and we persevered.

Although Barbara Jordan, even then, was beginning to suffer from the neurological impairment that would eventually confine her to a wheelchair, people from all walks of life knew that she was a strong, progressive leader who would stand up for all Americans, not just the privileged.

"We believe," she declared in 1976, "that the government which represents the authority of all the people, not just one interest group, has an obligation to actively . . . seek to remove those obstacles which would block individual achievement . . ., obstacles emanating from race, sex, economic condition."

Today, much has changed to make the Congress more reflective of the Americans who elect us. My mentor, Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California, and 13 other dedicated African American women carry on Barbara Jordan's progressive legacy. Seven of these Congresswomen represent districts in the South.

Working with the President and those of us who share their progressive philosophy, these Congresswomen led the movement to increase the minimum wage, expand the earned-income tax credit, reduce the threat of guns and provide for family and medical leave - legislation that responds to the needs of working American families.

It is no secret that our progressive movement to build the inclusive "national community" that Barbara Jordan envisioned has its opponents.   These opponents represent the privileged Old Guard - the true "special interests" of America.

In the Congress, the Old Guard are using their power to restrict our ability to document the legitimate voting strength of poor, minority Americans, even as they oppose the President's progressive nominees to the federal bench.

In the courts, the Old Guard are challenging affirmative action, as well as the legitimacy of congressional district lines that give African Americans representation closer to our proportion in society as a whole.

Retaining the Congressional seats that Black women now hold against the Old Guard's attacks will not be an easy task.  I believe, though, that we will prevail if we remain true to our progressive legacy and if we do not allow the Old Guard to divide working Americans from each other.

"The great danger America faces," Barbara Jordan declared during her historic keynote address to the 1976 Democratic Convention, "is that we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual."

"If that happens," she asked, "who then will speak for America?  Who then will speak for the common good?"

Today, the solution to social disintegration is that same inclusion, that same common good, to which all Americans aspire.  We will prevail if we join together to fight for good schools for our children, affordable and high-quality health care for our families, jobs that pay a fair and living wage, livable communities and a secure retirement in our elder years.

The Old Guard may delay justice, but they will not defeat leaders who follow the model of Barbara Jordan, a woman who spoke for the common good.