On March 17, 2008, New York will have its first African American governor, one of only two currently serving (the other is Deval Patrick of Massachusetts), and one of only four Black governors in US history. While I can’t say much for the seedy circumstances which brought down his predecessor and opened up the path for David A. Patterson to take the helm in the Empire State, the fact that New York is set to have not only an African American governor, but also a disabled governor (Patterson is legally blind) is noteworthy.

Not so noteworthy is this nasty little fact that I uncovered in my research for this article. Since the very beginning of this great nation, there have been only four black state governors: P.B.S. Pinchback (R), Louisiana, December 9, 1872 - January 13, 1873; Douglas Wilder (D) Virginia, 1990 - 1994; Deval Patrick (D), Massachusetts, 2007- present; David Patterson (D), New York, March 17, 2007 - present.

If we look further at these four governors, we find that the Pinchback, the first Black governor served, for only 35 days during the reconstruction and there was not a single Black governor elected for another 118 years. This despite the fact that the Black population has been continually growing in this country.

Another bit of history revealed about these four governors is that only the two most recent governors (Wilder and Patrick) were actually elected. Both Pinchback and soon to be governor Patterson were both serving as lieutenant governors under incumbents who were forced from office. So half of the Black governors inherited the office a la Gerald Ford, but in this great nation where we like to think racism is dead, only two were actually elected to the position.

As for Patterson’s blindness, he is the first legally blind governor of any state, but not the first disabled governor. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was disabled as governor of New York and as President of the United States, and former Arkansas governor Bob C. Riley was completely blind as the result of an injury he sustained fighting in World War II.

What I can’t understand is why the voting public seems to believe that the color of someone’s skin has some effect on an individual’s competence, particularly in politics. Just this week, Barak Obama said something that really hits the nail on the head when it comes to how we view competence as it relates to race in politics. He said, “There has been a running thread through this campaign of both pundits and prognosticators asking first, was I black enough? Then, am I too black?”

I say, why should it matter? In the workplace, we punish people who use race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and disability to judge the competence of individuals, but apparently it’s fair game in politics. And that is the main reason that I feel that there have only been four Black governors in the history of this great nation. Blacks have not been given a fair shake in politics simply because mainstream whites can’t seem to see past the skin color and focus solely on a candidate’s content of character and competence.

And why is it that the southern states, with the exception of Virginia (and that was just 15 years ago) have never elected a Black governor, despite the fact that Blacks were long a majority in the southern states, even after the Great Migration? It’s certainly not for a lack of qualified Blacks who are up to the task, so in my eyes all that’s left to explain it is racism.

But switching back to things positive, the fact that Patterson will be the fourth Black state governor truly is progress, despite the fact that he was propelled into office by the indiscretions of Eliot Spitzer with an American Idol reject hooker. Patterson was elected to the position of lieutenant governor specifically for such situations where the governor would be unable to serve (though arguably the signers of the NY state constitution probably were thinking more along the lines of death or incapacitation as reasons to be unable to serve instead of being Client-9 for a $5000 a night call girl).

I say that NY scored one for diversity (sort of) not only because of the circumstances under which Mr. Patterson becomes governor, but also because I have to wonder why it took the state so long to elect an African American to such an important position. And in a state that prides itself on being diverse and in favor of the progress of minorities in all areas of private and public life, I am left baffled at the news that this is just happening now. Think about it— if Spitzer wasn’t caught with his pants down, we may have had a Black president well before one of the most important states in the union had a Black governor.

Nonetheless, I am happy that the fate of the state of NY after this scandal is in the hands of an African American who has the experience to get the state government back on track. Not because he’s Black— but because he appears to know what he’s doing.