African Americans are a demographic minority in the United States. African-Americans initial achievements in various fields historically establish a foothold, providing a precedent for more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is breaking the color barrier.[1] [2]

In addition to major, national- and international-level firsts, African-Americans have achieved firsts on a statewide basis.

First elected African-American lieutenant governor: Oscar Dunn, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana

May: First African-American acting governor: Oscar James Dunn of Louisiana from May till August 9, 1871, when sitting Governor Warmoth was incapacitated and chose to recuperate in Mississippi. (See also: Douglas Wilder, 1990)

First African-American police officer in Chicago, Illinois: James L. Shelton.[3]

First African-American governor of Louisiana: P. B. S. Pinchback (Also first in U.S.) (Non-elected; see also Douglas Wilder, 1990)

First African-American Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, and of any state legislature: John R. Lynch

First African American elected to the Indiana general assembly: James Sidney Hinton.[4] [5]

First African American elected to political office on the West Coast: Frederick Madison Roberts, California State Assembly

First African Americans elected as judges in the state of New York: James S. Watson and Charles E. Toney[citation needed]

First African-American attorney general of Massachusetts: Edward Brooke. Also first African American to hold Massachusetts statewide office, and first African-American attorney general of any state.

First African American woman Texas state senator: Barbara Jordan

First African American appointed to New York State Board of Regents: Kenneth Bancroft Clark

First African American senator from Massachusetts: Edward Brooke. (Also first post-Reconstruction African American elected to the U.S. Senate and first African American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote).

First African-American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar:

Wakanda News Details

Obama wrong to denounce Black men for not supporting Kamala Harris

You may also like

Barack Obama Facts

Education Facts

Martin Luther King Jr. Facts

Spirituality Facts

United States Facts

Lifestyle Facts