Project 1B and 2B: Barbara
Jordan: Interplay of Place
History is essentially a composition
of stories about wars, people and discoveries.
When we hear stories, we realize that narratives are powerful forms of communication,
expressing emotions, reactions and experiences in a personal way that increases
the listener’s ability to relate to and learn from the narrator’s
encounters. For example, in James
Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a
Young Man, stories of Stephen Dedalus’s path to self-discovery reveal both
the inspirations and the lessons of his adolescence. Specifically, “it surprised him to see that
the play which he had known at rehearsals for a disjointed, lifeless thing had
suddenly assumed a life of its own.”
This incident reveals Stephen’s realization that he can understand the role of
art in his life. The play is a metaphor for living. From Stephen’s point of view, his life seems
artificial while the play seems life-like, making the play a model for
Stephen’s life. The reader is able to
understand parts of the world with which Stephen identifies. Similarly, stories of Barbara Jordan’s life
provide a foundation for understanding her beliefs, her motivation, her
inspiration to others, and her close connection with places.
Barbara Jordan’s life began with
discrimination. When her father saw his
newly-born daughter, he exclaimed, “‘Why is she so dark?’” Much to her father’s surprise, Jordan’s
appearance was different than that of the rest of her family; she resembled her
grandfather, not her parents. Her father immediately began pressuring his
daughter to compensate for her darker skin. In the years to come, Jordan’s
difference from the rest of her family defined her as she recognized a burden
placed on her by the shade of her skin.
Similarly, Jordan’s
bulky muscles, tall frame, and darker skin separated her from the other girls
in her community. At a young age, she
realized that she did not possess the neighborhood girls’ attractive qualities,
such as light skin, fragile features, or a small body. Early in her life, Jordan felt she was an outsider in
both her family and her community; she was desperately in need of a connection
with someone similar to her.
Fortunately, Jordan developed a strong and much-needed
relationship with her mother’s father, Grandpa Patten, who mirrored Jordan
physically. In the beginning, their friendship developed
from a mandatory ritual. Every Sunday, Jordan’s
family attended church and ate lunch at Grandpa Patten’s house, allowing Jordan
and Patten to connect over their dislike for Barbara’s father’s strict
interpretation of religion. Grandpa Patten did not attend church, and
when Jordan
expressed her reluctance to attend, Grandpa Patten supported her, claiming that
even though her father wanted her to, she should not have to attend Sunday
School. Through these early encounters
with her grandfather, Jordan
learned to become an individual. Her
grandfather continued to promote this theme of individuality as Jordan
grew up by always claiming, “‘You just trot your own horse and don’t get into
the same rut as everyone else.’” Grandpa Patten did not want Jordan to be
like the other children. By promoting
this unique outlook on life, Patten was essentially promoting “The Mystery”
which is the idea that no one can ever know what anything definitely is. “The Mystery” leaves room for everything to
be questioned and explored. Patten wanted
Jordan
to “remember to feel that you are more than what you look like…everything is
but nobody knows what it is or how it came to be.” Essentially, Patten believed that no one
could ever completely know Jordan,
and she could never completely know herself, so there was always room for
further searching and individuality.
Grandpa
Patten not only taught Jordan
about introspectively exploring herself, but as Jordan grew up and learned more
about his background, she was faced with the challenge of coming to terms with
his disappointing encounter with the law.
For the first significant time in her life, judged a person based on
their past. One night, Patten was
working behind the counter of a convenience store at about midnight when a
white man came in and made a swipe at the counter. Patten, believing the man was trying to rob
the store, chased after him. As he returned to the store, Patten heard gun
shots and was accused of shooting the white man. He was indicted by a grand jury for assault
with intent to murder. Unfortunately,
Patten’s trial had virtually every racial bias engrained in it. The prosecutors did not stick to the facts
of the case; they constantly incorporated the idea that it was wrong for a
white man to be shot by an African American man. On racially biased grounds, Patten received a
jail sentence. He was eventually
released from jail when James E. Ferguson, the Governor of Texas, was
impeached. Ferguson’s wife, Miriam
Ferguson, ran for governor, and, in an effort to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, she
pardoned a number of African American convicts, allowing Patten to go free. When Patten was released from jail, he put
all of his energy into his daughter and Barbara’s mother, Arlyne. Arlyne was already a talented orator, and
Patten tried to instill his strong convictions in her, hoping she would succeed
in life by changing the world. When she announced her marriage to Ben
Jordan, Patten was disappointed and refused to attend the ceremony. Barbara was born, and feeling a connection to
the infant who was frowned upon by her father, Patten reconciled with his
daughter and began to play an active role in Barbara’s development. Patten finally had someone to pass his
lessons and dreams onto, and Jordan
learned from Patten’s life as an example of how the future can be made much
brighter than the past.
His death, however, was reminiscent of his
past. One evening, trying to wash away
his pain, Patten became heavily intoxicated, and after falling off of the
platform, he was run over by a train. He begged his daughters to not allow Barbara
to see him as he lay bruised and broken on his death bed. Against his wishes, Barbara came to the
hospital to visit him, and he passed away almost immediately, satisfied after
having seen his favorite granddaughter for the final time. Jordan was able to use this
encounter with her grandfather as a reminder to not live a life of regret, like
the one that had prompted Patten’s reckless drinking. In the years to come, Jordan would
maximize her opportunities while looking inward for motivation.
The
dynamics of Jordan’s
community also shaped her outlook on life.
During Jordan’s
adolescence, Houston
was conflicted with racial tension. In
1910, the decline of the farm economy began an insurgence of impoverished,
white sharecroppers into Houston. The wide-spread enforcement of African
American inferiority allowed even the most impoverished white to declare
dominance over an African American. In
this turmoil, African Americans developed two paths in life: “one was built on
church-going, education, and respectability, and the other on escape and
immediate pleasure.” Jordan’s community followed the
former, placing an emphasis on gaining admiration within the neighborhood
through strict practice of religion. Jordan’s father also followed in
this stringent interpretation of faith and life, filling his daughters’ days
with lessons, chores, and rules; he considered it a sin to drink, dance, and
waste time or talent. His rigid nature, however, gave the girls opportunities
locally by providing them with the backing and support of a reputable family
name.
Jordan’s father was also a supporter of her goals,
always telling his daughter that he would “‘stick with you and go with you as
far as you want to go.’” These words show that Ben Jordan set no
boundaries or limits for his daughter; instead, he forced Jordan to set
her own goals and to strive to be the best that she could be. He, however, was also a guilt-ridden man torn
between his desire for pleasure and his meticulous view of religion. He considered each stray he made from
respectable behavior, ranging from occasional gambling to time spent with
friends, to be a sin. Trying to overcome
this remorse, he became a preacher, forcing the girls to attend the church
where he preached. The new church was
farther from their house, so Barbara was no longer able to enjoy Sunday lunches
with Grandpa Patten. Jordan began to develop a need for
an escape from her father’s pressure and her church’s domination. Fortunately, in the midst of this turmoil, Jordan would
soon discover a talent that would change her life forever.
Jordan enrolled in Phillis Wheatley
High School and developed
what would become her greatest asset: her voice. The school, located in Houston’s
Fifth Ward, was one of two schools in Houston
for African Americans in the mid-1950’s. It offered minorities a standardized high
school curriculum, an innovation in the segregated South. Just like the school’s education system, the
school’s namesake, Phillis Wheatley, was a pioneer; he was a freed slave who
was the first African American to publish a volume of poetry. According to Mary Beth Rogers, attending high
school started a new era in Jordan’s
life where, for the first time, she was free from “the supervision of her
father at home, and she wasn’t confined to a pew in church.” I can relate to the feeling Jordan felt upon realizing her
freedom. Growing up in Austin in the same neighborhood where my
family has lived for three generations, I have always been surrounded by
friends and family, and I have usually felt restricted by their opinions and
wishes. Going to college has freed me
from these limits; I have become involved in organizations that I have always
wanted to participate in, such as student government. Similarly, Jordan utilized her unique gift of
voice and her newfound freedom to gain popularity, striving to be selected as
“Girl of the Year” in her senior class. In her efforts to define herself, Jordan
quickly learned to take advantage of all opportunities and to seek ways to work
through the racially biased system instead of attempting to change the system
immediately. For example, Jordan
knew she could defy and possibly change the stereotypes people had of her skin
color through her actions. Her determination is evident in her high
school accomplishments: a top competitor in the high school speakers’ circuit,
a member of the All Girls’ Choir, and a member of a scholastic honor society. Jordan’s experiences with physical
discrimination, even amongst fellow African Americans, forced her to form a
connection with others through language and expression. Essentially, Jordan’s sense of place within her
African American community connected her to a sense of determination. Instead of withdrawing from the community, Jordan
pressured herself to be a finer person than she was expected to be. In this place, Jordan found a life-long passion
for voicing her opinions that would ultimately inspire others. The story of Jordan’s high school involvement
teaches the world to use other people’s negative opinions as a motivation for
personal transformation.
In 1952 when Jordan enrolled
in Texas Southern University, an African American college of more than 2,000,
she was still looking for ways to become a defining member of her community. Texas Southern University had been founded by
the state legislature in March of 1947, born out of confusion as Texans
attempted to battle the integration of their schools. The school was established to create a law
school for African Americans in response to challenge of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People to the separate-but-equal
doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson in
higher education. Jordan’s goal was to graduate from
Texas Southern University in three years and attend the law school. Today, it is difficult to imagine Jordan
attending this school that had been established to keep African Americans
segregated. At the time, she did not
even challenge the assumption of segregation or try to attend a different
school. In the years to come, however,
this segregated place would motivate Jordan toward social change by
serving as a stark comparison to the education received by her white
peers.
Jordan listened to the voice she had found in high
school to seek out Tom Freeman, the forensics coach for Texas Southern
University. She then abruptly
encountered her second instance of physical discrimination: being a woman. As a high school debater, I, too, experienced
this challenge. At national tournaments,
I found that I was one of ten girls amongst three-hundred boys. In debate
rounds, the boys acted dominating, powerful, and cocky, but when a girl
exhibited this behavior, she was criticized.
I came home from debate tournaments frustrated by the gender norms
reflected in critical comments of girls’ volume and tone, and my father
reminded me of Jordan. In the beginning, Jordan was not able to travel to
attend tournaments like those I participated in. Instead, Jordan spent her time furiously
attempting to convince Freeman to allow her to attend out-of-town speech
competitions, an idea that he frowned upon because of the “cult of
respectability for female students” that prevailed at Texas Southern
University. When Freeman did not change his mind, Jordan
began modifying her appearance to satisfy the traveling demands. She cut her hair shorter and traded in her
feminine clothing for bulky jackets and loafers, transforming herself into a
person who was no longer a threat to Freeman’s beliefs. Interestingly, this experience taught Jordan a
lifelong lesson in using her physical appearance to demand power. In the years to come, her bulky frame would
command a sense of presence and respect. While some may consider Jordan’s decision to compromise her
appearance cowardly or weak, traveling across the nation proved tremendously
valuable for her personal development.
This story about Jordan’s
determination reveals her strong will and perseverance.
As
Jordan began venturing out
of the South and into Northern colleges, such as the University
of Chicago, Purdue, New York
University, and Harvard, she encountered a new perspective on racial
issues. Jordan came from a world of
segregation and was now venturing into a different place, a place where equality
was becoming more prevalent than in the South.
Through her travels, Jordan
built confidence that she could compete with her white counterparts, a
confidence that culminated when she competed against a team from Harvard University. The contest ended in a tie, but Jordan
considered the tie a win, because she came away thinking that “she could hold
her own in the white world, as well as in her black world.” In her college and oration experiences, Jordan discovered
the connection between place and beliefs.
Jordan had lived a life of segregation in the deep South, being
conditioned to believe that she had to strive to make up for her color. She was forced to attend segregated schools
as Texans fought off integration. There
was a connection between the South and the prevailing inequality. When traveling to the North, however, Jordan
experienced a boost of confidence in competing with her white peers. She connected the North with a new sense of
opportunity. The change Jordan
experienced after being exposed to the North reveals the connection between
place and inspiration. Jordan’s travels allowed her to see
what the South would become if equal rights were provided to minorities,
another motivation for her promotion of social change.
This sense of confidence that Jordan associated with the North influenced her
to leave Texas in 1956 to attend Boston University
Law School.
In Boston, Jordan
experienced a confusing encounter with the realities of segregation. She realized the damages and assumptions of
discrimination, mainly the relationship that fostered inequality: the
relationship between the strong and the weak. Being in a place where African Americans and
whites shared fairly equal legal rights allowed Jordan to consider segregation
differently than she had seen it in the South. With this integration came a new form of
competition. Previously, Jordan
had generally only competed with other African Americans, but now she was
forced to compete with people of all races, letting her to see how far behind
she was in her education and how much more intellectually mature and developed
her counterparts from Ivy League Universities were. By recognizing this difference in
preparation, Jordan
realized that segregation created separate, but not necessarily equal,
institutions, a lesson that sparked her motivation toward equality and social
change. Jordan concurred that in order to
eliminate prejudice, the weak must become empowered by breaking out of a
position that “was powerless, fixed, indeed frozen, limiting imagination as
much as physical movement.”
Additionally, Jordan encountered a voluntary
separation of races for the first time in her life. This deliberate and sometimes random pattern
of separation made it difficult for Jordan
to know what to expect in Boston, because she
never knew what type of environment she would be in; in some areas of Boston, classes naturally
separated, while in other areas they naturally integrated. To make matters worst, no one knew of her
respectable and accomplished background, making Jordan feel alone and pressured to
prove herself. In her confusion of place and identity, she
became introspective about her sense of confidence and place. In a sense, Boston
University was a missing a critical
component of university place for Jordan. While universities are generally supposed to
be “an academic community where ideas are welcomed, shared, challenged, and
refined; a caring family in which the immigrant and the fifth-generation Texan
work side-by-side; a journey into the future fueled by talent, character and
hard work”, Jordan did not feel the welcoming spirit of the university. She did not feel like an individual, but
instead like an over looked, confused, and disappointed member of the
community. Jordan’s
sense of place at Boston
University was a catalyst
for her reflection on societal norms and biases.
In December, Jordan grudgingly encountered her
final examinations. In her first exam,
Criminal Law, she began the test and was almost immediately stunned by her
inability to develop a clear line of thought, realizing that there was not one
correct answer to any question because the meaning of the law can only be
interpreted. Jordan was familiar with memorizing
information and reciting facts instead of processing information through the
formation of arguments, logic, and judgments; scholastically, she had never
before been challenged to think independently. The professor wanted her to evaluate the situation and form her own line of
reasoning to support her analysis knowing that “even in logic and mathematics,
where terms are usually more precise than in other subject matters, enormous
confusion often results from a failure to realize that words mean ‘neither more
nor less’ than what they are intended to mean.” Jordan completed the exam almost
certain that she had failed, not being used to testing that forced discovery
learning and internalization of knowledge.
Jordan spent Christmas at Boston University,
alone and scared about the outcome of her exams. Unfortunately, the winter proved to be
another time of confusing racial relations. One of her best friends, a white girl, did
not invite Jordan back to
her house in Hartford
for Christmas. Jordan’s feelings were hurt as she
realized that even though she was in an integrated society, she was still not
welcome everywhere. 1957, however, began on a good note. At the
end of the break, Jordan
received her grades. She had succeeded
by making a 79 her final in Criminal Law. Clearly, the winter was a time of learning
about both education and society.
After
spending sleepless nights in the library during her first semester at Boston University, Jordan discovered the value of
study groups during the second semester. Jordan realized that one had to
discuss information with others to process it fully, a lesson that would shine
in her assessment of the Watergate scandal. This idea can also be seen in the Plan II
ideal of collaborative learning. Plan II
is known for its classes that “create dialogue among science, business,
engineering, and liberal arts students” by emphasizing “contact and community.” As a Plan II student, I also embody these concepts
of deliberation and cooperative learning.
I look forward to my discussion-based classes that allow me to learn
from interactions with my classmates and professors. I internalize information when I discover it
and discuss it with others. Similarly,
being in a place of challenges, unique thought, and interaction allowed Jordan to cross
the racial divide she had experienced in the segregated South and truly
understand her education. Later, Jordan would describe her first year at Boston University
as the most difficult year of her life, a year that forced her to learn to
discuss opinions and arguments with others, a year that she formed a connection
between the university and thought development.
Jordan’s
time in Boston
also marked a period of spiritual development.
During her second year at Boston
University, Jordan
made time to attend the school’s religious center, Marsh Chapel. The preacher, Howard Thurman, was the first
African American appointed Dean of Marsh Chapel, giving Jordan a spiritual mentor in her
quest for racial breakthroughts. By utilizing a preaching style that “was
restrained, with the choir often singing a capella behind him…followed by a
time of meditation,” Thurman offered Jordan a shift in religious perspectives
away from the strict religious interpretations of her father and toward a more
free understanding of the scriptures and Christian life. Thurman was known for his love of nature and
for his ability to be calmed and inspired by the forests and rivers. Like those who frequent Waller Creek, Thurman
found “if [nature] doesn’t really ‘keep me young’ as we sometimes sentimentally
allege of our elderly pursuits, it may keep me from aging as rapidly as
otherwise I might; and I have been perennially grateful for my brief yet almost
daily contact with earth and rock and flowing water along this beautiful
stream.” Nature kept Thurman’s thoughts and services
active and vibrant, inspiring him to combine traditional church services with
meditation to attract crowds of nearly five-hundred every Sunday. He preached the importance of self-reflection
like Professor Bump emphasizes meditation in our nature excursions. Similar to Professor Bump giving us the
candor to allow us to reconnect with our childhood, Thurman gave Jordan the
freedom to allow her to reunite with Christianity, providing her with a
spiritual base that would be vital during the trials she would face in the
years to come.
As Jordan’s
graduation from Boston University neared, she began deciding which city, Houston or Boston,
she wanted to make her home. Jordan’s internal struggle revolved around the
feelings she had developed about segregation while at Boston University. In Boston, Jordan felt freer; she generally did not have to
deal with the harshness of segregation as much as she had to in Houston. Eventually, Jordan
realized that although she might have more opportunities in Boston,
no one in Boston
truly cared about her. She wanted to be somewhere where people were
“interested in the advancement of Barbara Jordan…in helping you.” Additionally, the introspective reflection
about place and separation she had experienced at Boston University
served as a reminder of the change she could promote in the South. Jordan
felt a strong link to Texas.
Perhaps the connection that is
closest to us at the University of Texas is Jordan’s
personal progress in Austin,
Texas. Her road to Austin, however, was a long one. Upon returning to Houston,
Jordan
became interested in the campaign of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Jordan
became involved in a block-worker program to promote voting in African American
precincts of Harris
County. Democratic Party Leader, Chris Dixie, noticed
almost immediately that “here was a quality person, and we should cultivate
her.” At first, Jordan only worked behind the
scenes, but in a stroke of luck, Jordan was asked to give a speech to a church
community in the Fifth Ward when the head of the project was sick, leaving the
spectators “just as turned on and excited as if some of the head candidates had
been there to talk about the issues.” Realizing her talent, the Harris County
Democrats removed Jordan
from the mailing committee and placed her on their speech-making circuit. When the Kennedy-Johnson campaign ended
successfully, Jordan
realized that she missed speaking to the political and civil organizations. Her political bug enticed her to remain
active with the Harris County Democrats as a member of a committee that
screened candidates for local offices, leading coworkers to recommend that she
run for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives in 1962. At the time, however, the county-wide
at-large system for electing legislators made it almost impossible for Jordan to be
elected. While she was able to mobilize the African
American Houstonians, she only drew about 23% of the white vote. This race, however, gave her experience that
would be tremendously beneficial in three years.
In
December of 1965, Jordan
announced that she would run for office in Senate District Eleven. To the surprise of some, she entered the race
against Charlie Whitfield, an incumbent state representative. Foreshadowing Jordan’s
encounters with other state politicians, Whitfield was proud and arrogant; he
even called Jordan
to warn her that he would be running against her. Jordan, however, triumphed over
Whitfield for the Harris County Democrats’ recommendation. Whitfield was furious, and, serving as a
reminder to Jordan
of the racial inequalities that still existed, he began injecting racist
remarks into his campaign. Through controversial flyers, he tried to
make African Americans feel ashamed for supporting Jordan. Jordan,
however, won the Democratic Primary on May 8, 1966, and, with no Republican challenger,
she became the first African American female state senator in Texas and the first African American to
serve in the Texas Senate since 1883. Jordan’s campaign experience served
as a reminder of the prejudice and inequality that still existed in the
world.
Jordan came to Austin
to serve in the Texas Senate in 1962, and, making only $400.00 a month, she was
not in the job for the money; Jordan
loved politics and bringing equality to the nation. The Texas Senate still contained a number of
segregationists, and Jordan
was required to operate within that club. Being a minority, however, did not impede her
success, but instead fueled her determination; she did not waste any time
making her mark on the state’s politics.
When Jordan was first
elected to the Texas Senate, she obviously had to find a place to live in Austin. Jordan
called the Westgate apartments west of the Texas capitol. The Westgate was segregated at the time, but
not knowing that Senator Jordan was an African American, she was rented an
apartment. Before Jordan even served her first day in
the Texas Senate, she had made an impact upon the city that later would become
her home.
Upon
her arrival in Austin, Jordan was surprisingly named Vice
Chairman of Labor Relations, appointed to the committee on State Affairs and
named to nine other committees. Later, she was appointed to the Senate
Redistricting Committee, a position that Jordan
used to create the first African American congressional seat in Houston. The new Congressional seat would be the one
from which Jordan
would be elected in 1972.
This experience further conveys Jordan’s
ability to take advantage of opportunities to work within the system and
promote change. While serving in the
Texas Senate, Jordan
also acquired a new mentor, Lyndon B. Johnson.
Both Jordan and Johnson were strong, large individuals who had come from
humble backgrounds to achieve political success. Johnson became an important figure when Jordan began preparing for her congressional
duties in Washington, D.C.
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Jordan with Michael Collins,
Edwin, Aldrin, and Neil Armostrong, members of the crew of Apollo 11 and
recipients of the Medal of Valor.
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In
1972, when Jordan left Texas to pursue national duties in Washington, D.C.,
she was named Governor for a Day. My father, who worked for Jordan when she served in the Texas
Senate, was invited
to the proceedings. He vividly remembers her strong resolve and
appearance, even in the face of life-changing events. Jordan’s
father, who was suffering from a heart problem when he came to Austin
for the celebration, passed away in Austin the
next day, making Jordan’s
connection to Austin
even closer. She firmly believed that “‘if my father had
the option of choosing a time to die, he would have chosen that day’”; she was
proud to have honored her father’s dreams for his daughter.
It
was in Austin that Jordan further discovered her
political passion and
said
goodbye to a man who had pushed her to be everything she had become. Jordan ironically lost
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Jordan sits behind her desk while
acting as Governor of Texas.
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her
father, one mentor, while also establishing a friendship with Lyndon
Johnson. Although he could not
completely replace her father, Johnson became both Jordan’s friend and her confidant.
In 1974, mirroring her physical
breakdown dealing with multiple sclerosis, Jordan witnessed the crash of the
American political system. Her illness and the Watergate scandal,
however, were not enough to break Jordan. On February 6, 1974, the House of
Representatives voted to investigate the impeachment of Richard M. Nixon, and Jordan looked
on with disbelief that the President, the authority of our country, could be
forced to leave office. Amidst a nation divided by political beliefs
and convictions, Jordan
remained steadfast in her determination to not allow her political orientation
influence her vote as a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Jordan spent months investigating
the evidence and scribbling down notes, much like the debate research I did in
high school. Regardless of my feelings
on foreign policy or economic development, I had to develop well-researched
arguments. Jordan’s efforts culminated in two
inspiring impeachment hearing speeches. The most vividly remembered occurred on
July 25th, 1976 when Jordan
spoke on the life of the Constitution. She recognized that the Constitution had not
always protected her and other minorities.
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Barbara Jordan delivers a
speech at the Watergate hearings in 1974.
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Her convictions
brought tears to the eyes of those who watched as she proudly exclaimed, “I am not going to
sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the
destruction of the Constitution”. After this speech, Jordan would further discuss her
faith in the democratic process and Constitutional institutions through letters to
friends and supporters, including my father. Jordan’s obvious faith in the
Constitution is supported by the actions she took throughout her life. The rights created under the Constitution
enabled Jordan to achieve
her political success, and Jordan
defended the Constitution against attempts to shred it, including efforts by
President Richard Nixon and a number of other individuals and institutions that
crossed Jordan’s
path during her career.
Shortly
after the hearings ended, the new President Ford invited the members of the
Congressional Black Caucus to the White House. Ford then asked Jordan
to take an important trip to secure diplomatic relations with the People’s
Republic of China
in face of Nixon’s impeachment. As she participated in discussions in a small
province of China,
Jordan
was summoned to take a phone call from a reporter. He asked her what she thought of President
Ford pardoning Richard Nixon, and Jordan realized she had been deceived; Ford
had tried to get her as far from Washington, D.C. as possible.
Ultimately,
the Watergate scandal was a lesson for Jordan in the Constitution and the
role of the President. It was amidst
Nixon’s impeachment hearings that Jordan found a passion for the
Constitution. Her realization is similar
to discovery learning, which advocates “the assumption that education is a
process, not a set of facts.” Similarly, Jordan’s education in the meaning
of the Constitution was a process of studies and experiences that she related
together in her intense reverence for the Constitution. Similar to rewriting, Jordan had to constantly reform her
opinion