Shirley Chisholm & the 1970s Political Landscape

1970s Context: Social & Cultural Movements

  • Bell-bottoms, tinted glasses, and disco set the pop-culture backdrop; Stevie Wonder’s 1972 hit “Superstition” is used as a light-hearted reference point.

  • Parallel major social movements:

    • Second-wave feminism (gender binaries questioned, women’s roles re-imagined).

    • Gay liberation and broader sexual revolution.

    • Anti-Vietnam War activism.

  • Net effect: Public consciousness shifted toward challenging traditional authority, distrust of older generations, and a demand for inclusion of marginalized voices.

Economic Shifts: Deindustrialization & Inflation

  • 1970s economy marked by “stagflation.”

  • Deindustrialization devastated the Rust Belt (factory & coal towns in the Northeast/Midwest).

    • \downarrow Manufacturing = \downarrow Jobs = social/electoral upheaval in affected communities.

  • Economic anxiety intertwined with social activism, altering voter priorities and candidate platforms.

Political Opportunities Post–Voting Rights Act (1965)

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests & discriminatory practices, effectively enfranchising Black Southerners.

  • Some scholars claim American democracy “truly begins” in 1965, not 1776, because universal adult suffrage is fundamental.

  • Newly empowered Black electorate made Black candidacies viable; set the stage for Shirley Chisholm’s rise.

Shirley Chisholm: Early Life & Education

  • Born Shirley Anita St. Hill (Brooklyn, NY) in 1924; daughter of West Indian immigrants:

    • Father: Charles St. Hill (Guyana), factory worker.

    • Mother: Ruby Seale St. Hill (Barbados), seamstress.

  • Childhood split between Brooklyn and Barbados (lived with maternal grandmother):

    • Caribbean schooling credited for her eloquence and self-confidence in Black identity.

    • Marcus Garvey’s philosophy of Black self-determination influential via her parents.

  • Education milestones:

    • Brooklyn Girls’ High School, 1942 (valedictorian level performance implied).

    • Brooklyn College, 1946: Advocated Black-history courses & women’s participation in student gov’t.

    • Columbia University Teachers College, M.A. in Early Childhood Education, 1951 (while teaching/administrating preschool programs).

  • Formative political spark: Hearing Brooklyn Democratic leader Stanley Steingut claim Black progress required White help; she resolved to prove Black self-sufficiency.

Entry into Politics: New York Legislature & Congress

  • 1964: Elected to NY State Assembly representing Bedford-Stuyvesant (poor, largely Black & Caribbean):

    • Won “by a landslide”; became 2nd African-American woman in that legislature.

  • 1968: Ran for U.S. House (12th District, Brooklyn) vs. civil-rights veteran James Farmer (more conservative). Farmer’s framing of her as “too bossy/feminine” backfired.

    • Women voters outnumbered men > 2{:}1 in the district → decisive support.

    • Victory made her the 1st Black woman in Congress.

Congressional Career: Committees & Legislative Achievements

  • Initial assignment: House Committee on Agriculture (odd fit for urban Brooklyn).

    • Accepted due to influence over food-aid & migrant-labor policy.

    • Helped craft the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children (WIC).

  • Attempted reassignment when placed on Rural Development & Forestry Subcommittee; publicly protested and succeeded → reassigned to Veterans Affairs (“more vets than trees in my district”).

  • Reputation: Candid, unapologetic, coalition-oriented.

1972 Presidential Campaign

  • Announced January 1972 at Concord Baptist Church, Brooklyn.

    • Quote: “I’m not the candidate of Black America… nor the women’s movement… I am the candidate of the people of America… a new era in American political history.”

  • First Black person and first woman to seek a major-party presidential nomination concurrently.

  • Campaign pillars: Multicultural inclusion, anti-war stance, economic justice.

Opposition & Challenges

  • Main adversaries: Male establishment figures, notably George Wallace (segregationist AL Governor, “segregation now, segregation forever”).

  • Systemic barriers:

    • Under-financed campaign.

    • Limited institutional support; most of the (male) Congressional Black Caucus withheld endorsement.

    • Media skepticism & misogyny, both racialized and gendered.

Campaign Outcomes & Legacy

  • Entered 12 Democratic primaries:

    • Won 152 delegate votes ≈ 10\% of delegates available in those contests.

  • Achievements beyond vote totals:

    • Proved viability of Black & female candidacies at the highest level.

    • Built coalitions among women of all races, anti-war activists, and progressive labor.

    • Set narrative groundwork that later fueled conservative backlash (“law & order,” early War on Drugs) discussed in prior Crash Course episodes.

Post-Congress Career & Later Life

  • Retired from Congress: 1983.

  • Academia: Professor, Mount Holyoke College (MA), 1983{-}1987.

  • 1990: Co-founded African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom (with 15 Black women leaders).

  • Lived in Florida during retirement; died Jan 1, 2005.

  • Posthumous honor: Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by Barack Obama, 2015 (symbolic “full-circle” from trailblazer to first Black President).

Long-Term Impact on Politics & Society

  • Demonstrated that racial & gender barriers in electoral politics are structurally breakable once suffrage is protected.

  • Blueprint for later national Black candidacies:

    • Jesse Jackson (1984, 1988).

    • Barack Obama (2008).

  • Highlighted intersectionality: Distinct challenges facing Black women compared with Black men or White women.

  • Showed power of issue-based coalition building over identity tokenism.

  • Exposed intra-movement misogyny, forcing both civil-rights and feminist movements to reckon with Black women’s leadership.

Key Numbers, Dates & Quick Facts

  • 1924 – Birth.

  • 1964 – Elected NY State Assembly.

  • 1968 – Elected to U.S. Congress.

  • 1972 – Presidential run (entered 12 primaries, 152 delegates, 10\% share).

  • 1983 – Congressional retirement.

  • 1990 – Co-founds AA Women for Reproductive Freedom.

  • 2005 – Death.

  • 2015 – Medal of Freedom.

  • Voting Rights Act: 1965.

  • Key policy creation: WIC (launched early 1970s).

Study Tip: Pair these notes with Chisholm’s autobiography "Unbought and Unbossed" for primary-source insight into her rhetorical style and coalition strategies.