A Black Physician's Struggle for Civil Rights: Edward C. Mazique, M.D.

Epilogue

Last night a bright and shining star Fell from the heavens above and danced And taught me the secrets of the Universe As it guided me to the top rung of the Miles-long powerful ladder. I heard nothing as you called my name. The emotions of only my echo remain. The sky is clear and blue. I stand tall; a heavenly voice resounds! “Come Home Early, Chile.” I’ll take you in my arms. “Come Home Early, Chile!” — Edward C. Mazique, “Ode to Owen Dodson” Eddie was one of those rare people who is appreciated both during his life and after his death. On the day of his funeral, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church was packed with dignitaries, patients, and friends. The mayor and councilpersons of Washington; Vice President Bush’s wife, Barbara Bush; Dick Gregory; and many of the physicians in the city were there. The newspaper tributes were extensive, sincere, and flattering. From black press, white press, alumni magazines, medical bulletins, and national magazines poured tributes to Eddie and to the way he had devoted his life to the betterment of others. The lists of the organizations on whose boards he served and the awards he won were massive, far surpassing those mentioned in this biography. But it was not just a series of lists of his affiliations and accomplishments. Many of the writers remembered his special kind of personality: “Dr. Edward C. Mazique will be remembered for his warm, lighthearted, down-to-earth nature. His joy and friendliness brought smiles; his wit brought laughter.” Other articles stressed his tireless efforts to end discrimination in Washington. Eddie’s own thoughts from an earlier interview were quoted : “I know I was told more than once, ‘Hey, why don’t you stick entirely to medicine, keep your nose out of community affairs . . .’ but I contend there’s not much you can do about combating malaria or TB 321 EPILOGUE [ unless you do indeed do something about the causes of it.” It was this philosophy that guided Eddie’s life and summed up what he had hoped to achieve. The commentators were unanimous in concluding that he had succeeded. By profession he was a physician, a graduate of Howard University’s Medical School, but he practiced much more than medicine in his efforts to remove racial barriers in Washington. Dr. Mazique. . . became an institution in the city, at least in that part of Washington that stood up to be counted for desegregation and integration when these were lonely causes here. In the political and racial spheres as well as the medical, he made a lasting difference. Yet despite the racial barriers Eddie helped to demolish, racism has not ended. The civil rights movement, with the support of Eddie and countless others, managed to “force the removal of the legal base that supported racial discrimination and segregation, forge a broadbased consensus which believed that overt acts of racism were not morally tolerable in American society, enlist the support of the national government in the pursuit of racial equality, and establish a powerful coalition that brought together the church, labor, intellectuals, idealists, other ethnic groups and the young.” The accomplishments of the civil rights movement were remarkable and “accounted for more progress in less time than blacks had made since they first arrived in America in .” Despite this progress, “they failed to materially alter the lives of the mass of black people who remained disproportionately poor, badly educated and unable to avail themselves of the opportunities that went to better prepared blacks.” Many of the conditions that have prevented blacks from ever bettering themselves still exist in the black ghettos: The Movement hardly touched them at all. Unemployment for blacks remained at double the rate for whites, the ghettos continued to deteriorate, crime still plagued black neighborhoods, and the various government programs that sought to address these problems were never funded at the proper level or maintained long enough to make any real difference. 322 [ EPILOGUE When attacking the problems still facing minorities such as unemployment and the need for welfare reform, better housing, or improved health care, there seems to be little agreement among diverse groups as to the solutions. One source traces the breakup of the consensus back to the riots of the s that “frighten[ed] a number of white people and lessen[ed] their ardor for black-oriented causes.” If the whites have lost faith in...