Editorial | The historical significance of Bill Boyce’s election to Kent City Council | Melvin’s Notes

I was asked by community residents to write about the historical significance of Bill Boyce, a black man, having been elected to the Kent City Council.

Jack Becvar, of the Greater Kent Historical Society, confirmed that Bill Boyce was the first black man to be elected to the Kent council.

For many, who would prefer to try remaining colorblind, race, ethnicity, color, and all other physical characteristics shouldn’t matter; a person should be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. Judging people on the content of their character is a dream that is hopefully shared by all, but electing a black man to the Kent City Council doesn’t mean the dream has become a reality.

However, one reason the election of Bill Boyce is very significant, and a milestone in the city of Kent is because he was voted in by a predominance of white voters, like many other elections of people of color. Such elections makes a clear statement about how far we, that is the American people and the citizens of Kent, have come in terms of acknowledging and successfully working through some of our racial issues that continue to haunt us from the past.

Many people want to forget the past because the past may bring back bad memories in our personal lives and in the life of our country. Even if we are successful in not knowing the past or not bringing up the past, the past is a living and vital part of who we are today. Only by knowing the past can we truly understand and appreciate our present life circumstances as individuals and as a people on the North American continent; and we have a greater chance of influencing a more positive future for us all.

With knowledge of the past we can more fully appreciate events like the election of Bill Boyce. All this sounds like something a student of history and teacher of history would say, but it’s also true.

Let’s spare readers a detailed history lesson. Suffice it to say that in the context of the history of the United States of America, only a short time ago, a person the color of Bill Boyce could have been shot if he tried to vote, not to mention if he tried to run for city council. A lot of things have changed since those days.

The election of Bill Boyce says that the people of Kent selected him, even against the maneuvers of others who tried to control election outcomes with propaganda, money, and the expert advice of those who said Bill Boyce didn’t have a chance to win a city council seat, because “the right people” didn’t support him. Clearly the experts, who often get paid for their opinions, don’t really know who “the right people” are in Kent. For the record, in the city of Kent, as well as in the nation, “the right people” are the voters of all colors and backgrounds, not some expert’s opinion of who the right people are. The experts should have learned that when Barack Obama was elected to the presidency of the United States. By-the-way, it will be another historical moment when a woman becomes president of the United States. Hillary Clinton acknowledged putting a crack in that glass ceiling.

Sure, black people have risen from 300 years of slavery in the United States; have endured nearly another 100 years of Jim Crow Laws; survived the water hoses, attack dogs, brutal beatings and churches being bombed during the civil rights movement; and are now holding many, many, positions of importance in business, government, and other organizations.

However, one of the things that tend to slip past many people is; those positions could only be held if the masses of white people and other Americans had simultaneously, sometimes at the risk of their lives, supported the growth of black people, and had grown with black people. American history as well as the present is replete with such examples of unity and sacrifice. Frankly, how else could it be? A rising tide of justice lifts all boats. That’s universal law. As some would say, that’s God’s law.

It’s the times in which we live

Although it is the times we live in that has given rise to individual achievement such as the achievement of Bill Boyce becoming a Kent city council member, we must also acknowledge that it takes certain kinds of individuals to step up and take advantage of what the times has to offer.

People learned a lot about Bill Boyce during the election and before, so there is no need to repeat his credentials here except to say; he is a well prepared leader, with a strong and simultaneously cordial personality; he has a great sense of humor; and a flawless character. Plus, he understands how to work with the city’s leadership, both political and bureaucratic leadership, to represent all citizens of Kent.

After talking with Bill Boyce this morning he seems excited about his appointments as chair of the Public Safety Committee, an area where he feels a great deal of passion; the Economic Development Committee; and his representation on the Regional Fire Authority.

Bill Boyce is a great addition to the city of Kent’s leadership team. Like in other parts of the region and the country, his election is a wonderful sign of our times, of which we all should be proud to be American.