AFTER his selection by the Illinois governor to replace Barack Obama in the Senate, it was reported that Roland Burris has built a mausoleum for himself in Oak Woods Cemetery on Chicago's South Side with an inscription of “TRAIL BLAZER,” followed by a list of his accomplishments. That and other opportunistic reporting has portrayed Mr. Burris as a mere self-promoter. But, there is a clear history in Illinois which supports his pride in accomplishment in his public service.
from the NYT:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/roland_burris/index.htmlMr. Burris grew up in the small town of Centralia in mostly white southern Illinois and moved to Chicago as an adult. His father was a railroad laborer and grocery-store owner. Mr. Burris told Chicago Magazine that his desire for a political career began in 1953, as a result of the furor that resulted when he celebrated his 16th birthday by diving into Centralia's segregated public swimming pool. He attended Southern Illinois University in the 1950's and Howard Law School before becoming an officer at a Chicago bank, where he worked to provide loans for minority businesses. While his base was among African-American voters, his moderate views on issues like taxation and government spending allowed him to appeal to a broad spectrum of the state.
He was elected comptroller in 1978, making him the first black politician to hold statewide office. He became attorney general in 1990.
In 1994, he first ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor. The next year, he disconcerted many leaders by waging an independent campaign for mayor of Chicago. Mr. Burris ran for governor again in 1998, and built a double-digit lead over his three main challengers without the backing of Democratic Party leaders. His campaign, which could not afford a single television commercial, foundered in the final weeks of the primary.
Mr. Burris' career of public service has been graced by his own integrity in office, even as the political atmosphere surrounding him sometimes disintegrated into scandal.
from the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/us/31burris.html?_r=1 After working as a bank examiner, he was named to a state budget post in the early 1970s by Gov. Dan Walker, who ultimately went to prison after being convicted of bank fraud, perjury and misapplication of funds. Mr. Burris served briefly in 1977 as executive director of Operation Push, the civil rights organization founded by Mr. Jackson. Mr. Burris was the state’s comptroller from 1979 to 1991, and was the state’s attorney general from 1991 to 1995. In recent years, he has worked as a political consultant.
“Very, very low key,” Don Rose, a former Democratic political consultant in Chicago, was quoted describing Mr. Burris. “He’s just not a terribly exciting figure. But there’s never been a breath of scandal about him.”
Mr. Burris can reasonably take great pride in his advancement in Illinois politics, as a black man, because he is an integral part of the history of the state in their sending more African Americans to Congress than any of the others.
from an September AP report:
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/insight/stories/2008/09/29/illinois_pols.html?sid=101Illinois' First Congressional District provided the first black congressman from the North in 1928 -- Chicagoan Oscar Stanton De Priest, a wealthy Republican. Six years later, Arthur Wergs Mitchell became the first black Democrat elected to Congress, winning during the Depression against De Priest, a foe of government relief programs who seemed out of touch with his impoverished constituents.
Decades later, Illinoisans chose two black candidates for the U.S. Senate: Carol Moseley Braun in 1992 as the first black Democrat, and Obama in 2004.
Their paths were blazed by earlier statewide victories by black politicians like Chicago lawyer Roland Burris . . . (and also Jesse White, a black state lawmaker who represented an overwhelmingly white and affluent district in Chicago before becoming the current Illinois secretary of state who has denied Mr. Burris his signature)
Now, through the power invested in the governor of the State, Mr. Burris is poised to assume the responsibilities of U.S. Senator in a historic role replacing the first black 'Democratic' man to serve in that body since Reconstruction. Whether critics and onlookers accept the appointment as valid or responsible, the fact will remain that Roland Burris has made another remarkable advancement which will 'pave the way' for other blacks who aspire to serve in the historically white-dominated political institution. He is, truly, a trailblazer.
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