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Black Life in the Sacramento Valley (1919-1934) (36 pages)
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Page: of 36
Black Life in the Sacramento Valley Page 22 of 37
Record label for 78 rpm by Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds
(Courtesy of Dave Fowler, Museum of the City of San Francisco)
a Att pte tn — ew
9. CALIFORNIA'S FIRST BLACK POLITICIANS
California politics has always been controlled by big money. At one time, the Southern Pacific Railway
held immense political power, and it was said that members of the legislature could be bought like sacks
of potatoes.
The California state legislature has two branches-the state Assembly, with 80 members, and the state
Senate, with 40 members. The first black politician to hold statewide office in California was Fred
Roberts, who was elected to the Assembly in 1918 and served until 1934. He represented a district in
Los Angeles that included Watts. A majority of the people in his district were black.
Like nearly all black politicians of his time, Roberts was a Republican-the party of Lincoln. He was a
party regular who did what the party leaders dictated. I don't think he ever initiated a piece of legislation.
Apparently he was a very conservative man, or he wouldn't have been elected in the first place. He was a
businessman who had a very successful mortuary business, and had been involved in civic affairs in Los
Angeles, which was probably the reason he ran for office.
Roberts was very careful to never differ with the Republicans, who controlled the state and permitted
some blacks to share in the spoils—just enough to keep a few black Republicans happy, who in turn
would come to the black communities and extol the virtues of being a Republican.
Roberts was a symbol of pride to blacks in California, and when the legislature was not in session, he
would constantly travel all over the state, visiting every town of any size where one found black people
living. He would come to the upper Sacramento Valley quite often, including Chico, and would speak at
churches, or at the homes of those who wore the mantle of being the number one black in the
community.
I met him in Chico when I was about 13, but he didn't speak on that occasion. Another time, when
Roberts was coming to Marysville, the blacks in Chico heard of his appearance, and those who had
transportation went down to meet the good man. I went by way of the Sacramento Northern Railway;
you could get a round-trip ticket for 75 cents. He spoke at a black church, and was warmly received. He
wasn't campaigning, because people couldn't vote for him outside his district. He was going as the sole
black in the state legislature.
Roberts made quite an impression on the simple people who lived in the small towns, because they
could not figure how he had won an election in a world which seemed dominated by white power.
Roberts would tell us of some things that blacks were doing in Los Angeles. The city had black
schoolteachers, policemen and firemen, and blacks working for other city departments. In San
Francisco, the nearest big city to the Sacramento Valley, no blacks were hired for any of these jobs until
the 1940s or later.
Franklin Roosevelt's election to the presidency in 1932 brought many changes in both national and state
politics.
http://www.cmonline.com/boson/freebies/blackhistory/fleming2.html 12/28/04