Roland Burris: 'I am a visionary'
The choice of Roland Burris for Illinois’ open U.S. Senate seat might surprise some — but not likely Burris himself, a man whose unfailing confidence could not be dimmed even by losing elections.
“I am a visionary,’’ he declared in Chicago Sun-Times interview in 2002, when he was running for governor, his third unsuccessful try at the job.
In another interview with the paper, Burris said his past success — election as state comptroller and attorney general — was “divine providence” that began as a teenager when he decided to become a lawyer and officeholder.
“People said I was either crazy or divinely directed. I accept the latter,’’ he said. “I believe without a doubt that I am predestined to be a role model.”
In 1979, he raised eyebrows when, during his inauguration as comptroller — the first African American elected to statewide office — he related how he had “heard” Abraham Lincoln during a visit to his tomb in Springfield. “I know who you are and I am pleased at what’s taking place in Illinois today,’’ Burris said Lincoln told him.
Burris, 71, once mused that while Illinois is known as the Land of Lincoln, “Maybe someday it will be known as the Land of Burris.’’
Burris — who sometimes refers to himself in the third person — has never been shy about broadcasting his ambitions and unabashedly celebrating his achievements.
Speaking of himself in the 2002 interview, Burris said, “Roland Burris, who started way down here, in the segregation of a southern Illinois community, was able to set goals, plan and strategize and make it.”
A popular story Burris tells, and locals confirm, is how in 1953, as a youth in Downstate Centralia, he helped integrate the local swimming pool.
“If we as a race are going to get anywhere, we need lawyers and elected officials that are responsible and responsive,” Burris said his father, a railroad laborer, told him. The young man set his sights on law school and statewide elected office.
At Southern Illinois University, he studied political science, played football and was president of his fraternity. Later, he earned a law degree at Howard University. After law school, Burris became one of the first black professionals at Continental Bank. In 1968, living on the South Side, he was defeated by a local Democratic Machine candidate for a General Assembly seat. But maverick Democratic Gov. Dan Walker added Burris to his Cabinet in 1973.
Six years later, he became the first black politician in Illinois elected to statewide office. He served three terms as comptroller and, in 1990, he was elected attorney general. His tombstone, already set in Oak Woods Cemetery, boldly proclaims, “Trail Blazer.’’
Burris, who, with his wife Berlean, has two grown children, Rolanda and Roland II, has often run for office on a theme of “integrity’’ and has called the Bible his “blueprint for life.’’
As attorney general, Burris battled environmental polluters and created divisions to help protect victims of domestic violence and child abuse. But he was criticized for continuing to press for the death penalty for Rolando Cruz in the murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville, prompting a deputy prosecutor to resign. The state Supreme Court eventually tossed out the conviction.
That he had not been considered as a serious candidate for the Senate seat didn’t seem to faze him. Last month at a political event, Burris — who is now a lobbyist — was reportedly asked who he liked for the open post.
“Why not me?” he replied, and began listing his accomplishments.
Comment at suntimes.com.