Arthur Tate

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Arthur James Tate (born August 16, 1939) is a retired American politician and small business owner. He was the first African American to serve in the Mississippi State Senate since Reconstruction. In January 1979, he won a special election to represent district 15A, covering Holmes, Madison, and Yazoo counties, as a Democrat. He served from 1979 to 1980.

Tate grew up in Carthage, Mississippi, during the Jim Crow era and attended Leake County Agricultural High School and Tougaloo College. He moved to Canton in 1964 to teach at Rogers High School and became active in the civil rights movement. He later ran for chancery court clerk but lost. He won the open Senate seat in a fast campaign that included a runoff, all within one month.

Outside politics, Tate owns a Canton furniture store and has sold insurance. He has been involved with the Canton Business League, the Canton Chamber of Commerce, the Council on Aging, and the NAACP. He is a deacon at a Baptist church in Canton and is married to Consuella (Smith) Tate.