Earl Frederick Hilliard (born April 9, 1942) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

who served as the U.S. representative for the state's 7th district.

Life and career

Hilliard was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...

, and graduated from

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

. He was elected as a Democrat to the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

in 1974 and served from 1975 until 1981 and in the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district conta ...

from 1981 until 1992. Hilliard was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 1992 from the 7th District, a 65 percent black-majority district stretching from Birmingham to Montgomery. In the process, he became the first Black person since Jeramiah Haralson in 1877 to represent Alabama in Congress. He also became the first Democrat to represent a significant portion of the capital since 1965. He faced his first serious challenge from

Artur Davis Artur Genestre Davis (; born October 9, 1967) is an American attorney and former politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives for from 2003 to 2011. He was also a candidate for the Democratic nomina ...

in the 2000 Democratic

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district—but prevailed. Davis challenged Hilliard again in 2002 in a district that had been changed significantly by redistricting. The 7th lost its share of Montgomery, and was pushed further into Birmingham, absorbing a large number of mostly white precincts in that city. The campaign that year was focused on Hilliard's record in office and alleged ethical issues, as well as race, the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

, and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. Hilliard claimed "the only thing" that Davis, also an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, had done for African Americans was "put them in jail" during his time as a federal prosecutor. In 2001, Hilliard voted against a bill funding increases in military support to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and opposing criminalization of Palestinian politicians. Because a third candidate also ran in the Democratic primary, Hilliard finished with the most votes but failed to win a majority; under Alabama law, he then faced a rematch with second-place finisher Davis in a

run-off election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

. Davis won the run-off with 54% of the vote. Hilliard is a 1960 graduate of Western-Olin High School in Birmingham. He received a B.A. in 1964 from

, a J.D. in 1967 from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

, and an M.B.A. in 1970 from

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. F ...

. He is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...

fraternity. He is a member of the board of the

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...

Institute. Hilliard's son, Earl Hilliard, Jr., is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2010, also in the 7th district.

References

External links

"The Israel Lobby" interview of Hilliard describes how he was demonized in the media for opposing pro-Israel legislation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilliard, Earl F. 1942 births Living people African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Alabama Democratic Party Alabama state senators Alabama lawyers Clark Atlanta University alumni Howard University School of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives Morehouse College alumni Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama 21st-century American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people

Life and career

See also

References

External links