Memories of Barbara Jordan

Barbara and I were born only 162 days and 147 miles apart in 1936, but in entirely different worlds. How remarkable that our paths would cross so significantly thirty four years later

“My faith in the Constitution is whole, It is complete. It is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.”

~ Barbara Jordan, July 25, 1974, Opening Statement to the House Judiciary Committee
Impeachment Hearings for Richard Nixon

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By Charles O'Dell
Contributing Editor

Since 1976, February is officially celebrated as Black History Month in America. My life experiences, beginning when I worked in the fields as a farm boy, taught me about the dignity of those facing racial injustice.

We all need models in our lives who inspire us and who we can emulate. For me, Barbara Jordan was a model citizen, the consummate public servant and a decent human being. She was hard working and committed to duty, skillful, and an inspirational leader.

Born February 21, 1936, Barbara Jordan died fifteen years ago on January 17, 1996, at the early age of 59.

It was my good fortune to have met and worked with her – first in 1971 when she served in the Texas Senate, and three years later in Washington, D.C. where she was a U.S. congresswoman from Houston.

Barbara and I were born only 162 days and 147 miles apart in 1936, but in entirely different worlds. How remarkable that our paths would cross so significantly thirty four years later.Barbara Jordan/biography

We first met in the Spring of 1971, when I was serving as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Liaison Officer stationed at Prairie View A&M College, the second oldest educational institution in Texas. Prairie View, a black Land Grant college (one of thirteen colleges created under the second Morrill Act in 1890), is located near Houston in rural Waller County.

Barbara Jordan|bio

In an act of collective conscience, the U.S. Congress had appropriated $50 million for development projects at the long neglected thirteen black land grant colleges and prestigious Tuskegee Institute. The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Education at USDA was designated to oversee program expenditures.

A call went out from the Under Secretary’s Office, and as a USDA Economist and designated equal employment opportunity coordinator (EEOC), I agreed to write a job description for Federal Liaison Officers who would be stationed at the fourteen schools. In return for writing the job description I got to choose the school where I would serve. After visiting several campuses, I chose Prairie View A&M College in Texas. Little did I realize the life long implications of that choice.

In late summer of 1970, I took leave from my graduate studies at Maryland University and moved my wife and three young children to nearby Hempstead, Texas, because there were no homes available in Prairie View.

Barbara Jordan was in her fourth year as a state senator from Houston when I arrived at Prairie View A&M College to, “help build the institution,” as I had written in the job description. The College was something out of the distant past and I saw clear opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of dedicated faculty and many poorly prepared students seeking a college education. But first, there were important political lessons for me to learn.

Prairie View is part of the Texas A&M University System and Dean of the Agricultural College, H. O. Kunkel, wasn’t happy to have a direct channel open between Prairie View and Washington, D.C. that could bypass his office.

As Federal Liaison Officer I could call USDA, the Pentagon, The White House or any other federal agency in Washington, D.C. to make requests associated with needs of the black college. When the college Department of Nursing made an appeal to me for sorely needed teaching equipment and supplies, I called an army general I knew in the Medical Services Corps at the Pentagon and requested help.

For the most part, campus buildings, dormitories, classrooms and laboratories at Prairie View were in deplorable condition. Decades of neglect were clearly evident in the outdated or missing laboratory equipment and classroom furnishings. The college’s operating budget came through College Station and it became clear to me that the parent university needed to establish a closer relationship with its orphaned charge.

A good way to foster improved relationships was through reciprocal teaching programs involving visiting professors from both campuses. This cross-campus experience would open faculty eyes at College Station, create opportunities for shared responsibilities and growth of faculties at both institutions and strengthen curriculum for students. My proposal was well received by faculty at both schools but both administrations were cool. It was viewed as loss of control.

I taught several introductory Economics classes at Prairie View, and over time created a rapport with students and with other faculty through shared experiences. A school policy was to take class attendance but I had students who were working their way through college, as I had at Texas Tech, and my policy was to grade on what they learned, not on attendance. Ample handouts and open office hours worked well for my students.

Prairie View A&M today
The Administration at Prairie View was oppressive and controlling of faculty and students. I became aware of at least one professor who traded grades for sex, and the student handbook was insulting. As reported in the Houston Post, “...rules governing student conduct are demoralizing and designed for elementary school children.” When Prairie View President Dr. Alvin I. Thomas posed the question, “If they dislike the college so much why do they remain?” Students reportedly responded, “You don’t solve a problem by running away.”

Thomas ruled faculty and staff through fear and intimidation. It was understood that if dismissed, you would be unable to sell your home in the Prairie View community since the only jobs were with the college and all hiring had to be approved by Thomas.

When Vietnam veterans began enrolling at Prairie View they were unwilling to accept the status quo. Prairie View operated the only Naval ROTC in a predominately black college. As veterans of the war returned they expected to receive a college education and to be treated with respect. When an air force vet organized a student march on the president’s home to demand needed reforms, all hell broke loose. A small shed was set afire and the Waller County Sheriff Department was called on campus to break up the student demonstration. The air force veteran was arrested and thrown into Waller County jail, and 139 students were expelled from school, many who weren’t even on campus when the march occurred.

Thomas controlled the media news with his version of what was happening on campus. He claimed that only six students had been expelled for serious offenses but I had received a copy of the Thomas directive distributed among his administration that listed 139 “trouble makers” who had been expelled. We sheltered about a dozen students in our Hempstead home because they feared arrest by the Waller County Sheriff Department. One expelled student produced an airline receipt showing that he had been visiting in New Jersey during the demonstration.
I counseled student leaders that a more productive course of action for meaningful change was a lawful one and directed them to the nearby Houston ACLU.

Several days later I received a phone call in my office from an ACLU attorney who didn’t believe the conditions being described by the students were true. I told him problems went far beyond what the students were describing from their experiences and agreed to quietly assist any litigation protecting students’ legal rights. ACLU filed a class action suit on behalf of the students against the college. Because it is a state school the Texas Attorney General Office provided legal defense against the suit.

In an ironic twist, the AG attorney assigned to defend the college happened to be a family friend and when he called me for an informal report on matters I could not disclose the confidences entrusted in me by the students and ACLU. It was an uncomfortable situation for me.

In the meantime, I contacted state Senator Barbara Jordan’s office and described some of the Administration’s corruption that I had documented, including misuse of federal funds for infrastructure construction, and Senator Jordan called for a senate hearing. Many of the faculty had entrusted me with their stories of intimidation, favoritism and abuse by Thomas and the time had come to hold his administration accountable. I prepared to drive several faculty members to testify at the Capital. But the situation began to turn badly.

Behind the scene I countered the Administration’s spin on media news with documents showing the false claims being made. Each day I attended federal court as a spectator and to observe the false information being offered into testimony. Then one day the young ACLU attorney had President Thomas on the witness stand and asked Thomas how many students had been expelled in connection with the student march. Thomas testified under oath, “six.” The attorney then showed Thomas a copy of the list of 139 expelled students his office had circulated to certain college administrators and that I had turned over to ACLU.

I was sitting on the fourth row looking directly at Thomas and sensed immediately this was going to be troublesome. Unfortunately, the judge was an elderly man from Waller County who clearly was racially prejudiced.

Thomas paused only a moment before blurting out, “That was stolen from my office.” Of course the list wasn’t stolen but the judge immediately seized the opportunity and said to the young ACLU attorney, “Tell me where you obtained that stolen document.” After a long pause, the attorney responded, “Can we retire to chambers on this matter?” “No,” the judge said. “I want you to tell me in open court or I will have you both disbarred!” After a brief discussion between the two young attorneys, one of them looked to the judge and said, “Your honor, we obtained the list from Charles O’Dell.”

The cat was out of the bag, but I had other problems. Wives of the faculty members who were to testify at Barbara Jordan’s senate hearing forbade them from testifying in fear of reprisals. The wives somehow sensed that the status quo would not be overturned that easily and knew there would be retribution by Thomas.

Senator Jordan held her hearings and exposed the long neglect of Prairie View by the white power structure but no one was willing to step forward and verify the widespread internal corruption at Prairie View. To my knowledge, Thomas got away scot-free.

USDA Secretary Earl Butts had me recalled to Washington, D.C. because the FBI was concerned for my safety in Waller and Hempstead Counties. My office and home phones had been tapped and I received anonymous threats against me and my family. I retuned to my work at USDA, continued graduate studies at Maryland University and wrote a report of my tenure at Prairie View. USDA awarded me an accommodation but it was my friendships at Prairie View that I valued most.

Three years later I had the opportunity at a Texas State Society event to discuss Prairie View with Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. I thanked her for her efforts and expressed my disappointment in not being able to deliver faculty members to her hearing. She seemed to understand much more than I expected and said to me in her clear eloquent voice, “You saw your duty and made a difference.” I believed her.

Each time I walk through Bergstrom International Airport I’m reminded by Barbara Jordan’s statue of how blessed I am to have had her life touch mine and the lives of so many others. Her personal and public integrity, her courage, her human dignity and duty to public service still inspire me, and that’s what drives the work of HaysCAN.

"But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed, confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice, government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people, the freedom to live as you choose. These are not just American ideas. They are human rights. And that is why we will support them everywhere."

~ Obama in Cairo in 2009