Dr. Ronald Walters: The W.E.B. DuBois of our time (Rep. Bobby Rush)

Only a wise and awesome
God could have breathed life into a man who would be born in 1938, in Wichita,
Kansas at a time when a uniquely American style of racial apartheid still ruled
the day.  The Negro community, as
we were known then, tried to live and work in peace under a stark system of
separate and very unequal.  Our own
unique brand of home grown terrorism in the form of the Ku Klux Klan exacted
justice in untold communities throughout our nation and left in its wake the
death of thousands of African American men, women and children.   And yet, despite this
uncomfortable American legacy, Ron Walters grew up with the blessing of a solid
education, a Christian upbringing and an intellect and spirit that was
determined to uplift and inform both his own community but, indeed, all of
America.

As a board member of the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation whose annual legislative caucus gets
underway this week, I know that the legacy of Dr. Walters and his many
accomplishments will be talked about and celebrated at virtually every
forum.  In so many ways Dr. Ron
Walters, who lived to see America’s first African American President in the
White House, is a national treasure that current and future generations,
especially our young people, would do well to learn about and, hopefully, pick
up his mantle of scholarly leadership.

There are many things I
could say in praise of Dr. Walters’ remarkable legacy but I think it’s
especially important to note that he was a scholar, a brilliant tactician and
an unapologetic ‘race man’ in the best tradition of that term.  Dr. Walters was not only an integral
part of America’s Civil Rights Movement but he played a leading role, as a
friend and as a masterful political strategist, for the two historic
presidential campaigns of my friend, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.

By working hard and
playing by the rules, Dr. Walters’ detailed knowledge of those rules helped
ensure that a broad policy and political apparatus was in place in every
presidential primary state.  And he
was so successful at helping to master the rules—and challenging or even
changing them wherever possible—that, in 1988, all of America had to just stop
and marvel in awe as Rev. Jesse Jackson kept winning, and winning in state
after state.  He ultimately won 11
statewide primary victories and about seven million votes. Dr. Walters’ mastery
of the Democratic Party’s rules and Rev. Jackson’s vision and organizational
gifts created a, then, unprecedented moment in American history.  Together, they helped a whole new
generation of African Americans, and all Americans of good will, to imagine the
possibility of an African American President.  And the rest, of course, is living history.

In addition to his
political skills, Dr. Walters chaired the African and Afro-American Studies
Department at Brandeis University and the Political Science Department at
Howard University.   In
addition to serving in the Jackson campaigns, Dr. Walters was a policy or
political advisor to several leading elected and appointed officials throughout
the United States including former Congressmen Charles Diggs and William Gray.

Dr. Walters was an avid
supporter of the candidacy of our 44^th President, Barack Obama, and
he played a leading role in ensuring that the President’s political apparatus
mastered the sometimes arcane rules of counting delegates.  At the time of his death, he was
working on a book about President Obama.  For the sake of a grateful nation, I hope his friends and
family will be able to see that project through to completion.

Dr.
Ron Walters was many things to so many people and I count myself among those
who was a beneficiary of his sage counsel.  For these reasons and more,
he’s known by many in our community as the W.E.B. DuBois of our time.

My heart goes out to his
wife, Patricia Ann Walters, and the thousands of students he taught over the
years.  My hope and prayer is that
the gifts of wisdom and insight that he shared with them will bear fruit, for
years to come, in service to our nation.