My dad was the first Black Michigander at West Point. I honor him on Memorial Day. | Opinion

My father, Clarence Davenport Jr., was the first African American from Michigan admitted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. This happened in 1939. In the entire 20th Century, my dad was only the third African-American to graduate from West Point, and the sixth in its history. His rare accomplishments resulted from numerous circumstances, key among them African Americans’ growing local power at the ballot box.

Clarence grew up in Detroit, the son of a blue-collar worker at Ford Motor Co. and a mother who worked as a dry cleaner’s assistant. So how did he earn a place at West Point, which requires a nomination from a member of Congress or another such dignitary? First, he was a prodigy, extremely gifted in his studies, particularly at math. In his family, education came first, last and always. And dad was a striver, he pushed himself, he saw himself as a kind of pioneer for his community.

A second unusual factor was that he attended Pershing High School, whose students were then predominantly white, which meant it got reasonable amounts of funding, unlike schools in minority areas. He was able to do so because the Davenports’ Detroit home was located at the border of the school district that included Pershing. In high school, my dad was very much in the racial minority, but he still thrived academically. Toward the end of his senior year, the principal told him that he would have graduated as president of his class, but for his being African American.

Simultaneously, changing politics directly impacted my father’s life. In 1938, a Republican defeated incumbent Democratic Congressman George D. O’Brien of Detroit’s 13th Congressional District, where my father lived. Representative O’Brien, of course, was white, and he was not finished with politics. Looking ahead to the 1940 election, he knew he needed more Black votes. So how to get them? Easy — nominate an African American from the 13th District to West Point. A Democratic precinct official approached Clarence about the Congressman’s interest, my father pulled together the necessary paperwork, and O’Brien agreed on the nomination.

This was a big deal in those days. The prospect of an appointment made headlines in the African American press and elsewhere: “Admit Davenport to West Point ... Former Congressman O’Brien Makes Recommendation.” Did my dad’s appointment and ultimate West Point graduation pay off for the Congressman? Most certainly. With the aid of Black votes, O’Brien won the 1940 election, and two more after that. Black votes mattered then, and they still do.

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Many years later, my father reluctantly spoke of his personal experiences at West Point, where he endured greater challenges than other cadets. Like General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., dad had to endure the silence of his classmates for all four years at the Point – nobody would speak to him except for official tasks. He was isolated, and unlike other cadets had no roommate. His meals were constantly interrupted. There were countless other abuses, not merely verbal, but Dad bore them with determination, stoicism, dignity. And he graduated with the class of 1943 and built a distinguished military career, retiring as a full colonel.

Nowadays, you don't have to count on your fingers how many graduates of West Point are African American. There have been hundreds, including many females. And they are treated more fairly than in the old days of segregation and silencing. But I do fear for the future, for two reasons.

First, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action last year, and although it exempted military academies from its ruling, a conservative group filed suit challenging that exemption. Recent history shows that Republicans blocked President Barack Obama from putting Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court and enabled Donald Trump to appoint the three justices who killed Roe v. Wade.

Voting matters.

Wayne County GOP canvassers tried to steal my vote. I won't be able to forget it.

Second, the degradation of voting rights in Michigan (and throughout the country) is deeply troubling. Republicans continue to thwart the will of the people in several states by using gerrymandering to preserve control, even when they get fewer votes. And it has been only four years since fake electors appeared in Michigan and tried to steal the election for Donald Trump by disenfranchising the voters of Detroit.

Memorial Day celebrates those who gave their lives for this country and the values Americans hold as a nation: duty, honor, country — and civic responsibility. It follows, then, that the best way citizens can protect their rights is also the best way to honor those who sacrificed for the United States. It is to live up to the civic responsibility my father and so many like him fought for. It is to vote.

Elizabeth Davenport McKune served as U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 1998-2001.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: On Memorial Day, I honor my dad, first Black Michigander at West Point