Black according to whom?

New Crisis, The, Sep/Oct 2002 by Valentine, Victoria L

Editor's Note

This election season there were a number of heated contests in which Black incumbents faced Black challengers. In these races pitting Democrats against one another, most of the focus has been on the fact that the incumbents have been political veterans who have rarely faced real competition and their challengers have often been younger, relatively green candidates.

But there are other qualities about the opponents that the veteran politicians have exploited in their efforts to hold onto the support of their constituents. The political establishment has characterized the challengers as not authentically Black, an indictment once only lavished (with equal ridiculousness) on Black Republicans.

The newcomers are liberal like their opponents, but because they may have attended Ivy League schools, haven't grown up poor enough, have a diverse base of support and may be more moderate on key issues, they are being cast as not Black enough.

Some young politicians, including Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) and former Newark City Councilman Cory Booker are open to ideas in education reform, that are controversial to civil rights veterans who fought to integrate public schools. And candidates such as Denise Majette, who defeated Rep. Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic primary for the 4th district of Georgia, and Artur Davis, who successfully challenged Rep. Earl F Hilliard (D-Ala.) for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, have courted controversy in the Black establishment because their campaigns were significantly supported by Whites and Jewish organizations outraged at their opponents' views on the Middle East. Rev. Al Sharpton, campaigning in Birmingham for Hilliard, said, "Everybody that's our color is not our kind. Everybody that's our skinfolk is not our kinfolk."

The most poignant example occurred in this season's mayoral election in Newark, N.J. Mayor Sharpe James, who has served since 1986, faced a viable opponent in 33-year-old Booker, a tenant lawyer who had already beaten a four-term incumbent for a seat on the city council. Next, Booker who grew up in a New Jersey suburb, and graduated from Stanford University and Yale Law School before heading to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, challenged James, 66, in the mayoral election. James managed to garner 53 percent of the vote and will serve a fifth four-year term. But the campaign was ugly. It was widely reported that James called Booker a "faggot White boy." According to New York magazine, James' spokesman explained the slur as an "emotional reaction."

There's no doubt that these up and coming leaders are passionate about their race. And that's likely why they entered politics to begin with - to better the lot of the African American community. But as beneficiaries of civil rights and other legislative advancements accomplished by their predecessors, rising Black politicians like Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have benefitted from integrated environments at school, work and home. While their priorities remain with issues of traditional concern to Blacks, they also have expanded interests and expertise. Which was the goal, I thought, of us overcoming.

Once in office, Black politicians trying to build coalitions and work on business issues, for example, have enough problems dealing with the biases of those outside the race without worrying about being judged by those within the race.

It should really come down to the issues. The Black community has traditionally voted as a bloc (sometimes with success, sometimes not) in areas such as welfare and education reform and tax cuts, but increasingly, depending on income, age and education level attained, African Americans greatly differ on these matters.

If we don't agree with a Black politician's stand on issues (or are concerned about the source of his or her financial support), we just shouldn't vote for them, not question their Blackness.

Victoria L. Valentine

Editor in Chief