Charles Diggs - Political Career

Political Career

In 1954, Diggs defeated incumbent U.S. Representative George D. O'Brien in the Democratic Party primary elections for Michigan’s 13th congressional district. He went on to win the general election to the 84th Congress and was subsequently re-elected to the next twelve Congresses, serving from January 3, 1955, until his resignation June 3, 1980.

From the beginning, Diggs took an interest in civil rights issues. In April 1955, he gave a well received speech to a crowd of about 10,000 in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, at the annual conference of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), probably the largest civil rights group in the state. His host was the RCNL's leader, Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a wealthy black surgeon and entrepreneur.

Diggs was Howard's guest again in September 1955 to attend the trial of the accused killers of Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who was murdered during a trip to the state. The outrage generated by the case gave a tremendous momentum to the emerging civil rights movement. Diggs' decision to attend the trial received high praise from the black press. Although he was a member of Congress, the sheriff did not exempt him from Jim Crow treatment. Diggs had to sit at a small table along with black reporters.

He was appointed to the post of Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1969 and was first chairman of Congressional Black Caucus (1969–71), which landed him on the Master list of Nixon political opponents. He was a committed publicist for the liberation cause in South Africa. His 'Action Manifesto' (1972) displayed his support for the armed struggle against Apartheid and criticised the United States government for decrying the use of such violence when it failed to condemn measures used by the South African government to subjugate the majority of its own people.