Richard Arrington Jr.

For the Mississippi Supreme Court justice, see Richard Olney Arrington.

Richard Arrington Jr.
Arrington is at a microphone, possibly for a news conference.
25th Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama
In office November 13, 1979 – 1999
Preceded by	David Vann
Succeeded by	Bernard Kincaid
Member of the Birmingham City Council
In office 1971–1979
Personal details
Born	(1934-10-19) October 19, 1934 Livingston, Alabama
Spouse(s)	Barbara Jean Watts (1954–1974) Rachel Reynolds (1975–)
Children	5
Residence	Birmingham, Alabama
Alma mater	Miles College (BA) University of Detroit (ME) University of Oklahoma (Ph.D)
Profession	College Professor

Richard Arrington Jr. (born October 19, 1934 in Livingston, Alabama) was the first Black mayor of the city of Birmingham, Alabama (U.S.), serving 20 years, from 1979 to 1999. He replaced David Vann and, upon retiring after five terms in office, installed then-City Council president William A. Bell as interim mayor. Bell went on to lose the next election to Bernard Kincaid. Richard Arrington Jr. served on Birmingham's City Council from 1971 to 1979. Although he had support from only 10% of white voters, 73% of African Americans in Birmingham voted in 1979 for the first African American mayor. While in office as mayor and on the City Council, Arrington worked to end police brutality, rebuild the city's economy, and promote equality for all minorities.

Background

Early life

Arrington's father moved his family to the steel-town of Fairfield, Alabama from rural Sumter County, Alabama when Richard Jr. was five years old to take a job with U.S. Steel. The steady work was an improvement over sharecropping, but Richard Sr. still had to supplement the family income by working off-hours as a brick mason. Richard Arrington Jr.'s parents emphasized self-reliance, choosing to rent a home rather than stay in workers' housing. The family chose to shop at a black-owned cooperative store rather than accept credit at the company commissary. Richard's mother, Ernestine, kept the table filled with home-grown vegetables and made sure that her children made use of the opportunities given to them through church and school.

Richard, while still a teenager, served as secretary of the Sunday School at Crumbey Bethel Primitive Baptist Church. Soon he was Sunday School superintendent, a member of the choir, and eventually elected to the Board of Deacons.

Education

Richard Arrington Jr. was a standout student at Fairfield Industrial High School where he was influenced by the principal, E. J. Oliver. The African American principal led the high school and the students, focusing on morality and discipline. E.J. Oliver became the first leader that young Arrington looked up to. Richard Arrington Jr. graduated high school in 1951 at the age of 16. Afterwards, he applied to Fairfield's Miles College. Arrington majored in biology at Miles and excelled in the classroom and as a leader, rising to the presidency of his chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He was also an officer in the Honor Society and the Thespian Club. He graduated cum laude in 1955.

Richard Arrington Jr. took a position as a graduate assistant at the University of Detroit in Detroit, Michigan. While there, he first experienced an integrated social environment and gained the perspective necessary to effectively critique the established segregation of his hometown. He earned a master's degree in 1957 and returned to Miles College as an Assistant Professor of Science where he taught for six years. Arrington entered the University of Oklahoma's doctoral program in Zoology in 1963 in the midst of the Birmingham Campaign between African American protesters and city authorities in Birmingham. He earned his doctorate at Oklahoma in 1966, completing a dissertation on the "Comparative Morphology of Some Dryopoid Beetles", and, at the urging of President Lucius Pitts, returned to Miles as acting Dean and Director of the Summer School. He was quickly promoted to Chair of the Natural Sciences Department and eventually was named Dean of the College.

Personal life and family

The young Arrington met his first wife, Barbara Jean Watts, in high school. In his third year of college, while still living at home, the two got married. Barbara travelled with Arrington to the University of Detroit where the young couple faced difficulties. Despite struggling to adjust to the big urban city, the two enjoyed their years together. After losing their first child during childbirth, Barbara spent most of her time on their second child, Anthony (Tony) Arrington. After getting his master's at Detroit, the young family moved to Oklahoma for Arrington's doctoral degree. While there, Barbara struggled in the mostly white community. The family faced isolation along with fears for their children: Tony, Kenneth, and Kevin. Despite the schools being integrated, Arrington and Barbara worried about the lack of black students and mentors. Although Arrington spent a lot of hours working on his degree, he made time to spend with his kids and family.

Arrington's wife, Rachel, is standing beside him, and former mayors George Seibels and David Vann are on the left.

After returning to Birmingham in 1966, the couple began to face marital problems. As Arrington took a job at the Alabama Center for Higher Education (ACHE) and Barbara began to deepen her faith, they faced political disagreements. Along with their differing religious views, the couple began to drift apart. At this point, the couple had five children (Anthony, Kevin, Kenneth, Angela, and Erica). In 1974, Arrington and Barbara divorced, but the two continued to remain grateful for the years they had together. A year later, Richard Arrington Jr. met Rachel Reynolds at his work whom he married soon after. As Arrington continued in his political career, Rachel supported him in his dream for a unified Birmingham. Even though Arrington held the responsibility and role of City Council member and Mayor, his wife and family offered support and stability during those struggling times. A few years after his retirement from mayor, Arrington and Rachel divorced, and the former mayor faced the death of his daughter, Erica, in 2005.

Political career

In 1971, Arrington began campaigning for election to the Birmingham City Council with the pledge to make Birmingham "a city of which all her people can be proud." He placed third among 29 at-large candidates and faced five opponents in a runoff election for three remaining seats. He won his seat easily, becoming, after Arthur Shores (who had been appointed to a vacant seat by Mayor George Siebels in 1968), the second African American to serve on the council. After two years of quiet service, he introduced an ordinance requiring city departments to formulate hiring plans that included affirmative action goals and to contract business to companies that hired minorities. With opposition in the business community, the latter action failed, but the departmental hiring ordinance made it out of council to be vetoed by Siebels. Revised proposals that established recruitment programs and prohibited contracting with openly discriminatory firms, were later passed. His next major controversy was to push for a formal investigation of the shooting of an African American suspect while he was under police custody. The hearing was inconclusive but opened the door to a more serious look at police procedure.

Arrington also co-founded and served as the first president of the Alabama New South Coalition, a liberal advocacy organization which split off from the Alabama Democratic Conference over strategic and leadership differences.

In 1979 Arrington became the first black mayor of the city. In 1992 he appointed the city's first black chief of police, Johnnie Johnson Jr.

References

• Franklin, Jimmie Lewis (1989). Back to Birmingham: Richard Arrington Jr. and His Times. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0435-5.
• Mark Kelly. "Toward a New Birmingham: A Four Part Series on the Life and Times of Richard Arrington Jr." Birmingham Weekly. October 19 – November 10, 2005

External links

• Oral History Interview with Richard Arrington from Oral Histories of the American South