Ogletree Touts 3-Party System

African Americans must explore alternatives to the current two-party system if they hope to gain more political clout, Climenko Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree said last night.

In a speech at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum titled “African Americans & 21st Century Politics: Time for Reconstruction?”, Ogletree made a case for the formation of a third party to rival the existing Republican and Democratic parties because, he said, both groups have neglected issues affecting African Americans.

Ogletree, who called himself an “eternal optimist,” began his talk by revealing that, when he agreed to speak at the Forum several months ago, he had hoped to give an “upbeat, encouraging analysis of the John Kerry presidency.”

But instead of attacking President George W. Bush, Ogletree suggested that the best way to move forward is to analyze how blacks have achieved political success in the past.

“I think it’s time to...use the Reconstruction model to think about a third effort,” he said.

According to Ogletree, the period after the Civil War known as Reconstruction is best known for the struggle for suffrage and other political rights for blacks.

“It also is well known for its failure to fulfill the promise of equality made to African Americans,” he said.

Ogletree praised Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill.—a graduate of Harvard Law School and Ogletree’s former student—for his leadership in the Democratic party.

“In time and with the proper support,” Obama would make “an outstanding president,” he said.

Throughout the presentation, Ogletree showed PowerPoint slides with photographs of prominent black thinkers and politicians.

He also played a portion of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s fiery speech during the Democratic National Convention last July and clips from the 2004 presidential campaign trail, including Howard Dean’s infamous scream during the Iowa caucus.

“For all too many Americans, that was viewed as a low point in Howard Dean’s campaign. For me it was the high point. It really was a passionate call for really thinking about our political priorities and our options,” he said.

Ogletree said African Americans must exhibit the same energy and enthusiasm for politics that Dean displayed.

During one of the lighter moments of his speech, Ogletree presented a list of potential—and unexpected—candidates for president in 2008.

“Who’s the real answer?” he asked before showing a photograph of talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, prompting laughter from the audience.

A number of local, political, and judicial figures attended the speech, including Cambridge City Council member Kenneth E. Reeves and Joyce L. Alexander, a federal court judge in the District of Massachusetts and the first African American woman in history to become a U.S. Magistrate Judge.

Deval L. Patrick '78, former assistant attorney general for civil rights during the Clinton administration and a potential Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate who also attended the talk last night, echoed Ogletree’s call for change.

“We need a more inclusive, more vital, and more vibrant democracy than we have right now,” he said.

Ogletree admitted that he was not the first to suggest a departure from the two-party system; he said he was present when the idea was raised at the 1972 National Black Political Convention in Indiana.

Reeves, the Cambridge city councilor, publicly thanked Ogletree for participating in the forum, which he called a “keep hope alive meeting.”

Afterward, Bryan C. Barnhill ’08 approached Ogletree to ask how black leaders should address the problems facing African Americans.

“We can talk about constructing something, we can talk about creating some sort of program or platform for change, but what is that? What are we going to fight for?” Barnhill said.

—Staff writer Andrew C. Esensten can be reached at esenst@fas.harvard.edu.