In Black America; State Representative Wilhelmina Delco

. In Black America, reflections of the Black experience in American society. Texas State Representative Wilhelmina Delco is a 10-year veteran of the Texas House of Representatives. Representative Delco entered the political arena in 1968, and became the first black elected to the Austin Independence School Board of Trustees. Her election to the House of Representatives seat, which is district 50, made her the first black to be elected to office in Travis County, Texas.

Representative Delco has recently been reelected to a sixth term. A liberal but outspoken Democrat, Representative Delco's influence extends far beyond the state and her political affiliation. She is considered by many as one of the most influential women in Texas. I'm John Hanson, and this week our focus is on Texas State Representative Wilhelmina Delco in Black America. I have a very, very great love of people and particularly children. And unfortunately, in the economic times that we faced, a lot of women have not had the opportunity to participate on the level of public service that I have. Because in the Texas legislature, where I serve, this is almost a volunteer job, we make $7,200 a year. And obviously that is not supportive of your own independence economically. So I have a husband who has been very supportive, and my family has been very supportive. And I guess my position has to be somebody's got to do it. I enjoy politics. I enjoy people.

And as long as I feel very strongly that I can make a difference, it's where I enjoy being. Representative Wilhelmina Delco is a strong Democrat who represents the North Eastern section of Travis County in Central Texas. In the last Texas legislative session, she had at the Higher Education Committee. Representative Delco has long been an advocate for better education. Wilhelmina Delco was born and reared in Chicago, and you get to be born a politician in Chicago. It's a matter of survival. I got involved formally in the political process when I decided to run for the school board. And that was clearly because my children were involved in the school systems. And I wanted to have some input on the decisions that were made affecting their lives. You were elected to the Austin Independent School Board of Trustees in 1967. Were you the first black elected or the first black to run for a position on the board? I was the first black elected. I think that blacks had been trying for public office, obviously, as an outgrowth of the civil rights movement, as a minimum, as long as I can remember.

But the reality was that there were not very many elected. And I think to be perfectly honest, the factor that was important in getting me elected, it was in 1968, was the assassination of Martin Luther King. He was assassinated on a Thursday. And the election was at Saturday. And I think that it raised a consciousness of a lot of people, coupled with a whole lot of guilt and other things. And in addition to that, I felt I was very well qualified. But certainly those were parts of the factors that said people made the decision when they went to the polls. And maybe it is time that we had some input on that level in the processes that are so important to the whole life of a community education. Before seeking statewide office as state representative, how long were you on the AISD school board? I was on the board for six years. And part of that school board experience, in addition to being elected as secretary of the board, I was a member of the founding board of the Austin Community College.

So it gave me an opportunity to not only participate in some tremendous decisions as it related to Austin, but to have a part in expanding the educational opportunities for youngsters in the community college experience. How did you get the inspiration around for state office? I was trying to decide whether or not I was going to just go home and take care of my family when there was a real outgrowth of the Rodriguez decision in the federal courts that said that the issue in the Texas legislature was going to be public schools and public school finance. And it just seemed to me appropriate that since I had the opportunity to serve on the constitutional amendments committee in the city when we were trying to revise the Texas Constitution and had noted that in the legislature there did not seem to be a number of people who approached public schools from the standpoint of policy. Most of the legislators had either taught in public schools or who had had people who had had spouses work in the public schools while they went through law schools or got established in business or politics or whatever.

And it seemed very important to me that we should have somebody in the legislative process who came from that policy-making school board experience if we were in fact going to seriously address the issues of school finance. So I talked to myself into running for the legislature that year and I've been here ever since. Being a neo-fight politician, did you find it difficult in finding the financial backing to run an effective campaign? Fortunately for me, at the time I chose to run, it was not that expensive. Plus I fortunately married well. I married well in terms of marrying a man whose name was Delco. And Delco was a very marketable name. The year I decided to run for the legislature, the Delco Battery Company, had as its promotional gimmick, if you will, quote, the more you know, the more you want Delco. And I couldn't have said it better myself so that I had the benefit of good name identification based on that, but also based on the fact that I had preceded my service on the school board and in my efforts to run for the legislature

with a lot of community service. So I had community groups that were very supportive. So I really didn't have to spend an awful lot of money. I did not, as a matter of fact, spend any money on media. Most of the money that I spent was on those little cards and one mailing to people in the district. It would have been astronomical today, but it was less than $10,000 then. What year was that? 1964. Women are now becoming more part of the political process. Why do you see women becoming more part? The number of reasons. First of all, women are finally realizing that there's more to do than lick stamps and knock on doorbells for somebody else. Even in some instances, writing speeches for somebody else that instead of cringing over whether somebody else is saying your words the way you said them, we're realizing you ought to say those words for yourself. We also realize that there's more and more women are in the job market out of necessity.

Political decisions that are made affecting that job market ought to have the perspective of women who are affected by them making those decisions. So that as you move into the economic circle out of necessity, you move almost simultaneously into the political circle for the same reasons. How many chairmanship do you hold in other committees? Dear, I, as you know, chair the committee on higher education in the Texas House of Representatives. But I also chair the legislative advisory committee for the Southern Regional Education Board and sit on their executive committee. I chair the committee on policy and priorities for the education commission of the states and sit on their executive committee. I expect in December because I've been nominated with so far no opposition to serve as vice chair of the Educational Testing Service Board of Directors. And I sit on the committee on the commission on standards for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. And I serve as vice chair of the State Federal Assembly for the National Conference of State Legislatures. Now that's just the political and educational ones.

I also serve on the board of the United Way here in Austin, Texas. And I just finished a term on the National Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts. And I belong to a number of other organizations that have some level of social and political and hopefully community involvement. Being a part of the Texas State Legislature, what are some of your latest accomplishments in the education in other areas? Well, the biggest thing, as you well know, is finally getting a constitutional amendment passed after more than six years that will provide comprehensive funding for all of our state supported colleges and universities. Clearly, this is going to have a measurable benefit for our youngsters. But more specifically, there is a provision in there that corrects a situation that I think should have been addressed a long time ago. And that's Prairie View A&M University. Prairie View A&M is a part of the Texas A&M University system. It is historically black as a land grant college.

But it was grossly neglected in terms of funding. The constitutional amendment not only provides for them to have the quality of funding that the University of Texas at Austin has, an A&M at college station has. But it also provides the University of Texas in addition to the effort that is being made by the A&M system, the UT system out of its portion of the permanent fund will give Prairie View $6 million a year for the next 10 years for curriculum development and educational excellence. We think that that is very, very significant because it will provide for the opportunity out of a constitutionally dedicated source, the ability to grow and to develop as a resource for all of the people in this state that should have been there since 1876. And I would have to say that it is my proudest achievement because it not only had to go through both houses by two thirds vote, but it had to be ratified by the citizens of this state and that was done in this past election. Is the situation with Prairie View A&M isolated situation or are these particular incidents happening to other state colleges with historically black backgrounds?

I think that it is increasingly difficult for historically black colleges to get the kind of economic backing that we've been able to get for Prairie View. Number one, most of the states are now taking the route that now that blacks can go to other colleges, there's no need for this or they're changing them to such a broad base that they no longer have a historically black identification or thrust. I say that you need both. I see no threat to other institutions to have a historically black institution in a state supported out of state funds. I don't have that as a problem, but we have been fortunate in Texas in that during the time when we were really pushing for this, Texas had the resources so that it did not represent a threat to other institutions. Now that Texas is having some of the same kinds of financial problems that other states are having, I am very, very afraid that we would not have been as successful as we have been in this effort because it is not a matter any longer of both. It's a matter in a lot of people's minds of either or.

I'm unfortunate in feeling, but I think it's truthful to state that if it's a matter of either or we come out on the short end of the stick and as a result, our institutions are often sacrificed, either in reality or in quality to other institutions that are perceived as broader based, longer standing, quote unquote benefiting the majority, that kind of thing. So I would suspect that the situation as it has happened with Prairie View has got to be considered as fairly unique. How does a representative keep up with all the different legislative bills, in session and out of session, in committee and out of committee? You tend, I tend anyway to specialize. It's almost impossible in our legislature where we only meet 140 days every other year and we have between two and 3000 bills as a minimum introduced to know all there is to know about every one of those bills. But you develop an expertise about a particular area and you come to be regarded as the person to contact on those bills in our delegation anyway.

And I hold that role in education, but there are people in our delegation who specialize in other areas. We had, for example, a person who was very knowledgeable about tax bills, tax structure, tax laws. We have someone else who is very knowledgeable about the areas of human services. We had someone else who was very knowledgeable about knowledgeable about the judiciary. Now, even though I would not necessarily vote the way that they would vote, I was comfortable in getting a general picture of what bills from those areas were about. Obviously, I would have to probe further, but I would not have to work as it were from scratch. And I think you have to have people and groups that you rely on to give you fairly accurate information and on that basis making form judgments as to how you should vote. Once in a while things slip up on us, but that's one of the reasons we have staff as well. In those areas that we are particularly concerned about, we try to keep particularly well informed about.

What role did Reverend Jackson play in last year's election? He provided all the enthusiasm, all the excitement, and most of the issues. He gave a focus to a lot of people and a lot of faith in the system because he was bringing up the kinds of things that a lot of us felt if he had not been there would have been swept under the rug again still. So that a lot of people who had never identified with much less participated in the process were involved and committed and excited. I don't think our case here in Texas was unusual, but we went from we're caucus state, which means that people have to vote twice on election day. And usually after election, when people have to come back to the precinct meetings, we get, we're very fortunate if we get 20 people out of a registration of three or 400. This time because we emphasize that that was the only time and only way you could show support for Reverend Jackson.

Most of our precincts had at least half and in some cases three-fourths of the people who voted come back out to the precinct meeting. People who for the first time were involved in the process and excited about the process actively working within the system because they truly believed that for the first time our voices would be heard and our presence would make a difference. Particularly Andrew Jackson was somewhat, Andrew Jackson was somewhat perturbed about the Mondale situation of addressing some of the black issues or what blacks had to contribute to the presidential campaign. Do you think blacks were allowed or afforded the equal opportunity as their white counterparts in having access to Walter Mondale? I really don't and I don't know whether that's a fair statement for me to make because obviously I was not on a lot of the inner circles. My perception is that we were again taken for granted and the effort was so strong to court the border voter or the undecided voter that those who had been there, namely us and increasingly us.

And almost exclusively us now were just taken for granted and I really don't think that play is going to work much longer because we are having harder and harder times and I say that we who hold political office are having harder and harder times justifying why our folks should stay in a camp where we give more literally than we receive. And I think that we are learning that it might be wise to follow what old people used to say don't put all your eggs in one basket because we're finding that groups groups that have dispersed and can go get more than we do. And although we've argued that we're on the side of justice and right and no matter for whom we vote the issues we raise are good issues and we're the issues and needed issues.

It does make a difference when a person once elected to public office looks to see where their support came from and you're not in that column. They feel that their first responsibility is to satisfy the people who supported them. It's like a famous football coach here in Texas says you learn how to dance with the one that brought you. And I think that that's what we're learning that we can raise the issues but we have got to make the political process responsive to us by virtue of our participation in that process, not just the raising of the issues. Do you foresee any real organization or realigning the structure of the democratic party as it is today. Oh, I think the democratic party definitely is going to have to realign you can't lose an election as dramatically as a democratic party lost without regrouping if you will because those very groups that were courted so vigorously at the expense if you will of blacks did not in fact. Turn out and vote in the numbers that their courting would have suggested and if the democratic party is going to remain a national party, it's going to have to attract some of these people back.

At the same time, I am a strong believer in reinforcing those who have stayed with you because you can be so busy out here attracting new friends that you lose old friends. I'm a former Girl Scout and there's a song that says make new friends but keep the old one is silver the other's gold and one of the things that happens when you reach out there for silver, you get the silver but you look around and the gold is gone. It would be my admonition to the democratic party that yes, you can reach out and you can become more and more mainstream and more and more duplication of the Republican party to try to attract some of those people who voted Republican but you may look up and find that the people who supported you as Democrats are gone. We both not either. During the election, a lot of national black organization declined to support Reverend Jesse Jackson and a lot of our national elected officials and other know that prominent blacks declined to support Reverend Jackson.

Would that become a problem in the future, particularly within and without the democratic party? I think it was an unfortunate concern was sacrificing one group of identified leaders for another. I think so because what you did in order to promote your position and justify what you're doing, you have to attack somebody else's position and undermine what they're doing. I think it's a kind of ploy that has served us poorly because whether you go by this route or this route, we're still all trying to get to the same end. And the perception was that maybe instead of us saying either you do it my way or no way, my way is the only way that we ought to come together on some goals and you go your route I go my route. All joined together in the end is a perspective that we need to pursue and I am hopeful that there is that effort being made.

For example, with all of the publicity given to the people who didn't did not support Reverend Jackson in the name of national black leadership. Now all of those people are working together again and I think that one of the side effects and maybe I'm saying this hopefully. The side effects will be that we will all come back together and realize that whether Mondale is at the head of the ticket or somebody else is at the head of the ticket. Whether it's this ticket or the other ticket, there are certain issues that relate to black people that no matter who we approach with those issues, we must all be united behind them. And if we can do that, then we'll have gained an awful lot from this last election because a lot of the support of the Democratic Party ultimately were by the blacks who started out supporting all of the various personalities. And yet, when it came right down to voting on election day, whether you were heart or Jackson or whoever, any of the other candidates, we all voted Democratic and there are a lot of groups that could not make that statement.

So that I think that the division is more perceived than real. With a rainbow coalition, continue to be a political individual. Absolutely. Absolutely. There are too many issues that still have to be addressed. And whether they are addressed through Jesse Jackson's personality or through the Democratic Party, there are still issues that we have to address. And when I say we, it has been identified to some extent with black people, but clearly the rainbow was alive and well. Over 20% of the vote that Reverend Jackson received was non-black. And almost on every level, you saw that cross sectional kind of involvement and the things that he raised is issues are not going away. The people who were involved and excited by Reverend Jackson's issues are not going away. And the rainbow coalition represents the best opportunity to keep those people involved and concerned and excited about addressing those issues in whatever is the appropriate forum.

And whenever it is the appropriate occasion. Do you have any aspiration of running for the State Senate, US Senate mayor? Not really. I'm an issue person and I don't have any grand designs on one day being anything more than effective in addressing issues. That's where I started and that's where I still basically am. I am in the legislature and ran again because right on the heels of that constitutional amendment, it is critical that we write the legislation that will fund it and ensure it's continued effectiveness for the purposes for which we passed. Now after that, I don't know what I'll do. If another issue develops or that issue takes another turn, I'll probably be wherever it is that it needs to be addressed. I don't know where that is. And I'm not really worried. I've been very fortunate in having a very supportive constituency, but even more important, a very supportive family and husband.

And so I'm comfortable that wherever my issues take me, I'll be there. In your opinion, what is the state of America schools? It depends on where you are. If you're fairly affluent and have the time and the experience to keep right in there, you're probably feeling more comfortable every day. Because there were a number of national reports a few years ago that pointed up some areas that needed to be addressed and a lot of states and a lot of school districts are conscientiously addressing them. They're putting money, they're putting emphasis, emphasis, they're putting effort, they're putting spotlights on those issues. And a lot of public schools are improving because of that. If you're black, the situation isn't nearly as good. Black teachers aren't any better off. They're afraid of the testing. They're concerned that it's a device to dilute the number of black teachers. They're afraid that the programs that are designed to increase skills are eliminating blacks.

They're afraid that the talents that blacks have had in the school's IE sports and extracurricular activities to some extent are being diminished or diluted or in some cases overtaken in various guises by others. And I think that you'd have to say that there's some areas of very grave concern. But I think it's better to have those areas out there on the table where we can get alarmed and therefore involved than shoved under the table where at least from my perspective they've been concerns for years. So I am hopeful that as black teachers and black parents and black students and the total black involved community realizes that these are our schools and we don't have the options that some of the other groups have to take up our tax dollars and get the benefit of them. Some place else that the public schools are literally all we have. Then maybe we will recognize that if that's all we have we need to go back in there and start doing some of the things that we used to do when we recognized that they were all we had.

The reinforcing that really strong active PTAs and community groups provide the support that the churches have always provided the support that people in the community provided the tragedy of all this is a lost generation in a lot of instances of black children. Because economics of our times force more and more of our parents to work not one job but two three four jobs to keep food on the table and roofs over our head. And as a result we have more and more latch key kids that are literally rearing themselves in situations where there's not a grandmother or kindly neighbor to oversee them. But where they're literally leaving home and coming home alone and so I think that it's time for us to reassess what family and race and community is all about. Now there are a number of organizations that are trying to do that but most of us have the tendency to say that's great for them.

They ought to do it and I would say that it's kind of like that old Michael Jackson song you know look over your shoulders honey because I think that all of us have a role to play because it really frightens me when I look at what is happening either deliberately or kind of by benign neglect to our kids and it's frightening. Texas State Representative Willamina Delco. If you have a comment or like to purchase a cassette copy of this program write us the address is in black America longhorn radio network UT Austin Austin Texas 78712. For in black America's technical producer David Alvarez I'm John Hanson. Join us next week. You've been listening to in black America reflections of the black experience in American society in black America is produced and distributed by the Center for Telecommunication Services at UT Austin and does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Texas at Austin or the station. Texas is the longhorn radio network.