Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 16, 1993 TAG: 9303160121
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
FORMER DROPOUT CAROL SWAIN IS MAKING A POWERFUL IMPACT NOW
Carol Swain has always preferred drawing her own conclusions.She questioned an article she read in the mid-1980s that said because black politicians would soon claim the last of the black districts, black representation would stagnate. Her own research led her to conclude that a representative's party is more pertinent than his race to good representation.
She's always been fascinated by power, although she says she's never had any. Yet it takes a certain amount of power to accomplish what she has. In roughly 12 years she went from a high-school dropout to a Ph.D and assistant professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University.
Along the way, raising two sons as a single parent, she garnered various awards and honors, including membership on the Roanoke College Board of Trustees. She also turned her conclusions about black representation into book that has been called "the most important study of Congress and African American interests since black members began to hold congressional office."
Swain on Thursday returns to Roanoke College, her baccalaureate alma mater, to discuss her book, "Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress." She will be one of three speakers participating in the college's Henry H. Fowler Public Affairs Lecture Series.
"The book is about how Congress as a whole represents African Americans," Swain said. "After acknowledging the diversity that exists among [blacks] and defining their objective interests, I look at representation from the perspectives of civil rights and economics and don't just rely on roll-call data."
Released last week by Harvard University Press, the book is expected to be read by politicians and scholars. But Swain says she tried to make it accessible to anyone who shares her long-standing interest in politics. This includes blacks, whom she says are becoming increasingly politically savvy.
She says the five years it took to research and write her book at times yielded unexpected insights.
"It was really interesting to see how Congress people use their staffs," she said. "Especially among white Democrats representing African Americans, I noticed that the racial composition of their staffs tended to mirror their districts. I think this led to better overall representation.
"I also found that it is not true - as some people will argue - that in order for a black representative to gain whites' support, he must not be representing blacks' interests."
While she believes that many interests apply across racial lines, in her book Swain lists health care, drugs, unemployment, poverty and inferior education as areas that blacks have a strong "objective interest" in changing. Her own background was touched by several of those indicators, although personal experiences did not play a part in their selection, she said.
One of 11 children, she grew up in a four-room house without plumbing in Bedford County, where her stepfather worked as a sharecropper. At age 13, she ran away to live with her father in Roanoke. By age 16, she had dropped out of school and married. And by age 20, she was a divorced mother of two.
"When people focus on my advancement, they tend to assume that it was because of affirmative action or giveaways," Swain said. "They tend to downplay the fact that I earned it through merit."
She admits she didn't put forth much effort during her first year at Virginia Western Community College, where she earned an associate's degree in merchandising. But by her second year, she'd realized that education was the ticket to where she wanted to go. In her second year, she made VWCC's dean's list, and she entered Roanoke College determined to advance with honors.
"One degree led to another. All along, I knew what I wanted my record to look like. I knew that when I came to a question on an application about honor societies, I wanted to have something to put in the space.
"I've always been very goal-oriented and focused. I usually operate with a five- or 10-year plan."
The current plan includes cutting in half the usual six years it takes to attain full tenure. Swain, who turned 39 this month, plans to have tenure before she's 40.
"I'd like to be a full professor in six years and get a political appointment within 10 years," she said.
She said she's prepared to leave Princeton to achieve her goals, if necessary. She may eventually leave anyway to teach at a public institution among less-advantaged students, where she said she thinks she might make a difference in someone's life.
Swain - who also wrote an acclaimed essay "Double Standard, Double Bind: African-American Leadership After the Thomas Debacle" for the book "Race-ing Justice, En-gendering Power," edited by Toni Morrison - will discuss her book at a morning convocation. She'll join fellow Princeton Professors M. Christine Stansell and Cecilia E. Rouse for an evening panel discussion.
Stansell teaches American history and women's studies and has written on sexuality and the politics of gender. Her essay "White Feminists and Black Realities: The Politics of Authenticity" also is included in the Morrison-edited book about the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill controversy.
Rouse is an assistant professor of economics and public affairs and is a research associate of the industrial relations section in the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton.
Thursday's lecture schedule:
11:15 a.m.: "Black Faces, Black Interests," Carol Swain.
4 p.m.: " `Public Woman' and Sexual Ambiguity," M. Christine Stansell.
4 p.m.: "Women and the Labor Market: Trends, Problems and Policy Solutions," Cecilia E. Rouse.
7 p.m.: Panel discussion, "The Role of Women in Public Life."
8:30 p.m., reception.
HENRY H. FOWLER Public Affairs Lecture Series at Roanoke College on Thursday. Reservations required. Call 375-2206 for locations.