Arthur James Tate (born August 16, 1939) is an American retired politician and small business owner who was the first African American to serve in the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Represen ...

since the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

. In January 1979, he ran in a Senate special election, won his race, and served one year in office. He represented Holmes County, Madison County, and Yazoo County.

Life and career

Tate was born on August 16, 1939, in the small town of

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. He grew up in the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

South and attended Leake County Agricultural High School and

Tougaloo College Tougaloo College is a private historically black college in the Tougaloo area of Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It was established in 1869 by ...

. In 1964, he moved to

Canton, Mississippi The city of Canton is the county seat of Madison County, Mississippi, United States, and is situated in the northern part of the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area, metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson, Mississippi, Jackso ...

, where he taught at Rogers High School. He became active in the Black civil rights movement and eventually ran for

chancery court The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of eq ...

clerk. He lost that election but in January 1979 ran for the open seat of

district 15A in a special election to represent

Holmes Holmes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Holmes (surname), a list of people and fictional characters ** Sherlock Holmes, a fictional detective * Holmes (given name), a list of people * Gordon Holmes, a penname used by Louis Trac ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

, and Yazoo counties. As a member of the Democratic Party, Tate declared his candidacy, campaigned, and won the election and runoff election, all in one month's time. He served one year in office. Tate owns a Canton furniture store and has also sold insurance. He has served as a member of the Canton Business League, the Canton Chamber of Commerce, the local Council on Aging, and the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

. He is a deacon at his

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church in Canton. He is married to Consuella (Smith) Tate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tate, Arthur 1939 births Living people 20th-century African-American politicians African-American history of Mississippi African-American state legislators in Mississippi Democratic Party Mississippi state senators Mississippi Democrats Mississippi state senators People from Canton, Mississippi People from Carthage, Mississippi Schoolteachers from Mississippi Tougaloo College alumni 20th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature