United States Congressman and Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn's (S.C.) Op-Ed on Black History Month

Op-Ed by Assistant Democratic Leader Congressman James Clyburn

Contrary to the expressions of some, celebrating black history in February -- the shortest month of the year -- is not a slight. When launched in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, it was for a week.

Dr. Woodson selected the second week of February because it envelopes the birth dates of Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and Frederick Douglass (Feb. 14).

In 1976 President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often-neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Every President since has designated February as Black History Month. Woodson’s recognition of Lincoln is pretty obvious, but maybe not so much of Douglass.

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives observed the 200th birthday of Frederick Douglass. Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Cedric Richmond organized the program and invited me to make remarks.

I invoked Martin Luther King Jr.’s edict that, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'” In my opinion, few Americans have been more impactful in answering that question than Frederick Douglass.

Born into slavery in 1818, Frederick Douglass became a fugitive from injustice in 1838 and lived the rest of his life between Rochester, N.Y., and Washington, D.C. Douglass became a lion of the women's suffrage movement and the lion of the anti-slavery movement. He was at Seneca Falls in 1848, and speaking at the International Council of Women in 1888, Douglass said to the men in the audience. “Get out of her way,” and let them lead.

I have not been able to establish that Frederick Douglass ever visited South Carolina, but his influence upon the Palmetto State was profound. Two people who revered and idolized him were Robert Smalls and Richard Greener.‎

To mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, and honor the roles that Black Americans have played in warfare from the American Revolution to the present day, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History selected “African Americans in Times of War” as the theme for this year’s celebration.

Frederick Douglass met with President Lincoln in 1862 to discuss allowing Blacks to fight for their own freedom. Eventual U.S. Congressman Robert Smalls, who had just escaped from slavery earlier that year, attended that meeting and sat next to Douglass.

Congressman Smalls returned to South Carolina and became a delegate to the 1868 State Constitutional Convention, where he authored the resolution that provided for free public education for ALL South Carolinians. Congressman Smalls served 10 years in the State Legislature and 10 years in the U.S. Congress.

He was a catalyst in the establishment of South Carolina State College. One of the historical missions of land-grant colleges is military training, an area in which S.C.S.U. has excelled. S.C.S.U.’s ROTC program is one of the most productive in the nation, and I'm looking forward to celebrating Black History Month with them on Friday.

Richard Greener made a self-described pilgrimage to Rochester to visit and consult with Douglass, whom he called "The Grand Man." Of that meeting, Greener wrote in his biography that “the hero and the hero worshiper” were in their elements.

Greener would go on to become the first African-American to graduate from Harvard University, and in 1873 became the first African-American Professor and Librarian at the University of South Carolina. I am proudly participating in the inaugural Richard T. Greener Symposium at the University of South Carolina, and will attend the dedication of a Memorial to Greener near the Thomas Cooper Library.
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