[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July - September, 1974] Page: 219 of 236
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SCENE
Fashion
Food
Health
The Arts
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER Page 19
SWed., Aug. 28, 1974I never intended to become a run.of-the-niil person'
The one and
only Barbara
JordanBy Karen Peterson
WASHINGTON, (D.C.) -'
There are still some people
in Houston who call her a
"big ole lovable girl."
Some still go to sing-alongs
with her when she's home,
and bike ride on a favora-
ble' day. Once, she even
played a little cards with a
Houston reporter, although
as a strict Baptist she
doesn't know her way
around a poker table.
But this is not the public
image of Barbara Jordan,
the Democratic representa-
tive from Texas' Eight-
eenth Congressional Dis-
trict.
To the public she is a
barrier-buster, massive in
mind and body. Barbara
Jordan is an intellect who
thinks few puny thoughts.
She has been called the
"best legal mind on the
House Judiciary Commit-
tee" by some reporters.
Speaks; of the House
Carl Albert says she might
have his own job someday.
She laughs, a rare occur-
rence, and says, "I suppose I
might, if I hang around
here for another 50 years."
She hasn't missed the
irony of her position - the
daughter of a black Baptist
preacher, the product of a
black Southern low-income
area, who-.sat in judgment
of a. President.
As she is wont to do. she
phrases the situation care-
fully and gracefully, "The
Constitution was not de-signed to work for blacks;
they were not counted as a
part of the country. But
through the process of
amendment, interpretation
and court decision blacks
have been included in the
Constitutional phrase, 'We,
the people ... ''
Blacks and the poor are
her constituents, and she is
passionate in her concern
for them. Interviewed dur-
ing the recent historic pres-
idential days, she said:
"Gerald Ford has never
really had an opportunity to
relate to the total black
populace. His record on civil
rights legislation as Minori-
ty Leader was disappoint-
ing.
"But I am reminded that
before he became Presi-
dent, Lyndon Johnson's
record wasn't exactly all-
embracing of blacks. Yet,
as President, no man did
more for them than he
did." (President Johnson
once said 'of her, "She
proved that black is beauti-
ful before we knew what. it
meant.")
Barbara Jordan isn't
awed by the role she has
played in history, but then
again she's a bit used to
being exceptional. The 38-
year-old thorny black rose
of Texas once said, "I nev-
er intended to become a
run-of-the-mill person.
Instead. she became the
"one-and-only." The phrase
"the-first-to-be" is practi-
cally part of her name.
She is the only womanever elected to the Texas
Senate: the first black in
that body since 1882; its
first woman and black ever
to serve as its President Pro
Tempore; the first black
ever to serve as Governor
of Texas (for a day), and, of
course, the first female and
first black sent from Texas
to Congress.
A product of the "new
South," Ms. Jordan nowa-
days gets some Fat Cat
money. gets honorary de-
grees, has a "Barbara Jor-
dan Day" in Houston. She
is big political box office.
Nobody is stupid enough to
throw brickbats at the no-U.S. Rep. Barbara Jorda
nmAko-up. no-nonsen'-e IC-
male.
'f'weren't alit ays neces-
sarily so. Not everyone in
the Texas State Senate
sang her praises for the six
years there. Political rivals
accused, her of selling out
her liberal ideas in order to
get bills passed, even weak
ones. (She did influence the
passage of the state's first
minimum wage bill.) She
says toc-.j1 don't hear
that from people anymore.
I think they have come to
understand my \4 ay of
doing things, the way I
work. Now. they're telling
me I was right all along."Ms. Jordan didn't get
this far by being "lovable."
She won not love, but re-
spect, through sheer intel-
lect and competence and
force of personality. She
has always done her home-
work, as she -demonstrated
in her eloquet statement to
the, Judiciary Committee
July 25, citing various defi-
nitions of impeachment.
Knowing more than her
male colleagues sometimes
infuriates them. She com-
ments, "It's not a drive to
know more than anybody
-else. I just feel more com-
fortable knowing I'm pre-
pared for any situation."Ms. Jordan is not a Tex-
as back-slapper. In fact,
she doesn't even smile
very often. She says, "I do
feel I have a sense of hu-
mor. I enjoy relaxing. But
there hasn't been much
funny to laugh about lately,
particularly through the
seemingly interminable,
grueling Judiciary de-
bates."
is. Jordan just-doesn't
do many things Texas
style, even if she is Texas-
sized. She doesn't even talk
like a Texan.
Her natural reserve and
dignity have led some co-
horts to call her cold, aloof,
even rude and egotistical.
They tell a lot of stories
about Ms. Jordan in Texas
- like the time she failed
to thank some state sena-
tors' wives for their flow-
ers,
But Ms. Jordan s not
the social, chit-chatty type
anxious for the next barbe-
cue. She has said her father
probably influenced this
natural reserve. He was a
strict disciplinarian who
noted her infrequent "B's"
but not the frequent "A's'
in school.
Now she says. 'M1 fa-
ther was my number one
fan,
Rer preacher father
moonlighted as a clerk to
get her through Boston
University Law School (She
had decided to become a
lawyer by the tenth grade,
after rejecting pharmacolo-
gy.)
Supposedly, she said,
"Who's ever heard of an
outstanding pharmacolo-
gist?"
Ironically, her father
was stricken with a fatal
heart attack the day she
served in the honorary
capacity as "Governor for a
day" of Texas. True to the
family code, she monitored
his condition but didn't hat
an eye in public. continuingIN 1971, Lyndon Johnson embraced
then State Sen. Barbara Jordan.with the ceremonies.
The lady's unflappability
and her self-confidence
have led to some charges of
egotism. But she is a cen-
tered self, rather than self-
centered. She comments, "I
am pleased with myself in
the sense that I am pleased
with my work, but not in
any conceited or superi-
or way."
Nobody has ever ac-
cused Ms. Jordan of being
shy. She passed on this
story to a Texas gathering
recently. "I told the
Democratic Bigwigs I
wanted to attend their
Wednesday luncheon ses-
sions. They said a woman
had never been inside. But
they let me in because they
couldn't stand the spectre
of a Barbara Jordan stand-mug in the door every
Wednesday yelling' Let me
in! Let me in!'"
Ms. Jordan doesn t
speak. much about the fem-
inist movement, but says
she represents her constit-
uents who are "all kinds of
people." In fact, she ran in
a district she helped create
while she was in the Texas
State Senate and won it
handily with 81 percent of
the vote.
She says she has faced
prejudice as both a female
and as a black, but adds. "I
didn't focus on that. You
just do a little more. It's
not impossible." And to the
many students she address-
es, she says, "Don't talk
about black power or green
power. Talk about brain
power'
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[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July - September, 1974], book, 1974; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616583/m1/219/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Southern University.