Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama, Race and Civil Rights
Black leaders in Chicago met on Tuesday to see if they could galvanize behind one mayoral candidate in what they say is their best opportunity in years to address issues facing the African-American community. The effort shows the evolving nature of politics in the black community. It is a community that is trying to find ways to assert itself even as there is a move toward the idea of post-racial politics.
The AP writes:
Facing the best shot in decades to push an agenda - including better solutions to violence, foreclosures and unemployment plaguing underserved black neighborhoods - black clergy, politicians and others have been meeting to try to throw their collective weight behind just one person, hoping the rest of the black community follows their lead.
So many potential candidates have surfaced - at least a dozen in the black community alone - that many fear the black vote could be widely split, ruining a chance to exercise the kind of influence that helped elect Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington, in 1983. Among other considerations is whether Rahm Emanuel, praised by President Barack Obama even as he left the administration last week to run, will win support from black voters in Obama's hometown."It is important to get behind one candidate ... who has a sense of urban reconstruction," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, one of several community leaders arranging meetings.
"Our job is to educate [voters] that Rahm is not the second coming of Barack Obama, that what they're thinking is based on irrational logic," said the Rev. Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church.
Though blacks make up 35 percent of Chicago's population, choosing candidates using their race as a major consideration is fading. As evidenced by the defeat of Mayor Adrian Fenty in Washington, D.C., though, black voters are more wary than ever of being ignored and have begun rebelling against the idea that American politics is post-racial.
Black voters in D.C. felt that Fenty arrogantly ignored their concerns. Just four years after winning every voting district in the city, the young politician, often tagged as a rising political star, lost in a stunning defeat.
"There's no one leader in the African-American community any more ... with the charisma or moral authority to stand up and say 'follow me,' and maybe that's OK," said DePaul University professor Laura Washington.
Part of the problem is that while politics are changing, some blacks are still operating under an old paradigm. The fact that a bunch of ministers feel they can meet in a room and decide who they are going to support leaves a lot to be desired.
The AP reports that:
The top vote-getters in a straw poll of about 100 ministers taken Sept. 17 were state Sen. James Meeks, a prominent black minister, and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, who also is black, said the Rev. Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church. Runners-up included former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., despite recent revelations of an affair and allegations he wanted a group of Indian businessmen to raise millions for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for Jackson's appointment to Obama's old Senate seat. But nobody is ruling out Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who is white and has made a name for himself with several actions viewed favorably in black communities."
I'm curious if there was anyone under 35 in the room? Did the group reach out beyond the traditional leaders such as ministers? Did the potential candidates present an agenda to the group? Were young, up-and-coming people considered as candidates? How big of a role did race play in the selection of a person to support? Did race supercede policy in selection of a candidate?
Maybe it's time for some new blood.
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