The Story of Arthur Wergs Mitchell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Story of Arthur Wergs Mitchell - Essay Example Arthur Wergs Mitchell was born on December 22 1883, at Roanoke, Alabama and was the son of former slaves Taylor and Ammar Mitchell. His father has worked as a modest farmer to raise his family. Mitchell studied in public schools and has financed his college education at the Tuskegee Institute by working as a university assistant and farm laborer. After a year at the Tuskegee Institute, Mitchell transferred to Snow Hill Institute, where he was mentored by a Washington protà ©gà © in the person of Professor William J. Edwards. Mitchell’s beliefs toward his own teaching skills and capabilities have later on led him to putting up a vocational elementary school, the West Alabama Normal and Industrial Institute that was exclusive for African American children. These milestones have also brought difficulties to the life of Mitchell. He was accused of deceiving the poor blacks to working for cheap labor and was even charged of defrauding them to obtain their land titles. He was sued by the black farmers, but has managed to avoid prosecution. Nonetheless, the charges filed against Mitchell did not hinder him to moving toward his goal of becoming a lawyer. Eventually, Mitchell has left Alabama and moved to Washington. Then, he went to Chicago to pursue law. On 1919, he has moved to Washington D.C., where he has tried to familiarize himself with the law and has gone to real estate by establishing the Mutual Housing Company of Washington D.C (Asseln 1995). In spite of his lack of formal law education, Mitchell passed the bar in Chicago, Illinois in 1927 (Asseln 1995). He has later on ventured into the practice of law by opening a law office that has paved the way for him to creating a connection with the Republican Party (Asseln 1995). This then marked the beginning of his political career as the first African American democrat in the country. Mitchell has worked for the Republican Party and has managed the campaign of the Republican presidential bet Herbert Hoover (Nordin 2007). This responsibility has made him inspired to entering the arena of politics. Upon joining politics, Mitchell left the Republican Party and became a Democrat. As a democrat, he had the advantage of representing the black community, for he was seen by the party leader as one who will not intrude in the plans of the white political leaders that may be unfavorable for the black constituents (Nordin 2007). Arthur Mitchell replaced Harry Brooke as candidate of the Democratic Party for Congress Representative due to his sudden death (Arthur Wergs Mitchell 2013). Mitchell rivaled with fellow African American Oscar De Priest, but Mitchell managed to defeat Brooke, thereby, electing him as the very first African American Democrat to represent a state in the American Congress in November 7, 1934 (Arthur Wergs Mitchell 2013). Mitchell expressed his support to â€Å"President Roosevelt and the New Deal† during his tenure in Congress (Arthur Wergs Mitchell 2013). On the one hand, Mitchell got involved in a controversy that prompted him to file charges against the Illinois Central and Rock Island Railroads. The