The Nation's Pulse/Race Lifts
Wyman, Hastings Jr.
THE NATION'S PULSE RACE LIFTS by Hastings Wyman, Jr. T he late Elijah Muhammad, a founder of the Black Muslims, probably overstated the matter when he said that white people are devils. But...
...Wilder's pro-choice stand won him votes among some upscale whites, and Wilder clearly had a superior resume—thirteen years in the legislature, four as lieutenant governor—to the GOP's Marshall Coleman...
...Not that race was the only factor in these contests...
...In the process, the unearned benefit the GOP has enjoyed from white hostility to blacks or to their political agenda is also likely to decrease...
...Indeed, 36 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR FEBRUARY 1990 since the November elections, Rep...
...whites cross ideological lines to support a black candidate...
...In New York City, by contrast, Dinkins's victory rested on the loyalty of liberal Democrats...
...My office recently received a form letter over Young's signature asking for contributions to "Voter Education Namibia," a fund that will go to "hinder South Africa's ability to influence" elections in this new African nation...
...By election night, Jesse was at Dinkins's side...
...Rice, like Wilder, offered something to white voters...
...Rice's position on the anti-busing referendum was a case in point: he promises to end crosstown transit of students for racial reasons within four years...
...The elections of Democrats Douglas Wilder as Virginia's first black governor and, on the West Coast, Norm Rice as Seattle's first black mayor indicate that black politicians are becoming more moderate and white voters less reluctant to vote for blacks...
...This year alone, an unprecedented number of black candidates, all Democrats, will be running for statewide office in the South, the home of 50 percent of the nation's black voters and 60 percent of its black officeholders...
...Of course, it's too early to say that moderate black politicians and conservative white voters are ready to walk unimpeded into the sunset...
...Indeed, as mayor of thestate's largest city—a liability in the rest of the state—Young is respected for his ability to work well with business leaders...
...In Queens, which Dukakis carried with 60 percent of the vote in 1988, Dinkins managed only 40 percent a year later...
...Although Dinkins kept him at some distance, Wilder kept him out of his state altogether...
...Instead, the 1989 elections underscored what had taken place in the state since Cole's selection, where voters elected a Democratic governor and Democrats won two important congressional races...
...Yet it seems that Andy still hasn't gotten the hang of pragmatism...
...Says a white lawyer who voted for Rice and for the anti-busing measure: "I'm convinced you can be anti-busing and not a racist...
...For starters, he was "clearly the best candidate," says a Seattle educator...
...On the Seattle city council, Rice had a reputation as "a healer, a bridge person between Republicans and Democrats" on budgetary and other key issues, says a corporate consultant...
...In his early speeches, Young has stressed economic growth (as Wilder did in his '85 bid for lieutenant governor...
...Democrats generally...
...But even if black candidates in 1990 won't relive the experience of black candidates in 1989, they will continue to influence the direction of American politics...
...These voters did not move under their own steam, but in response to Wilder's campaign, in which he transformed himself from a state senator who attacked the beloved state song ("Carry Me Back to Old Virginny'Uncle Tom lyrics at their most mawkish) to a law-and-order Democrat...
...P erhaps the most noteworthy thing I about the Virginia and Seattle elections was that they saw a significant number of moderate and conservative Hastings Wyman, Jr...
...lawyer, was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee...
...Justice (or effectiveness) aside, any black politician who calls on whites to legislate employment preferences for blacks, or to implement major income redistribution programs to benefit blacks, is whistling Dixie...
...Fourteen months ago, Ron Brown, a black Washington, D.C...
...As a result, Wilder ran much better among white voters—winning 40 percent of their vote—than did, for example, Michael Dukakis, who won only 30 percent of Virginia's white vote in 1988...
...Similar trends were on display in Seattle...
...Finally, there was Jesse Jackson...
...As one local observer put it, opposition to busing doesn't have to be a racially polarizing issue...
...At the time, a number of Democratic realists and political analysts (myself included) thought Brown was the wrong man for the job .Indeed, I had the same reaction in 1987 when Ed Cole, also a black, was chosen Democratic state chairman in Mississippi...
...Mike Espy is writing a weekly column and broadcasting a weekly television program—both for statewide, not districtwide, distribution...
...The nation's press has duly noted the success of these and other black candidates—in Durham, North Carolina, and New Haven, Connecticut, for instance...
...Similarly, Jesse Jackson's efforts on behalf of the Statehood for D.C...
...Moreover, in Seattle as in Virginia, whites could support the black candidates for other than racial reasons...
...But the press all but ignored a major development: white voters who changed their traditional voting patterns to support -the black candidates...
...In other words, race is becoming less of a factor in American politics...
...But other polls—and most Peach State politicos—are highly skeptical about Young's chances...
...Although normally a Democratic stronghold (Dukakis carried it in '88), the city isn't necessarily "liberal," as witness the fate of a citywide referendum in November to curb racially motivated busing...
...A majority of Seattle voters apparently agreed...
...As a result, only 40 percent of the normally Democratic Jewish vote went to Dinkins...
...Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young is running for governor of Georgia, state senator Theodore Mitchell is running for governor of South Carolina, and former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt is likely to run for the U.S...
...Though the former machine politician tried to sound a moderate tone, more often than not he came across as hopelessly dull...
...Much of the coverage focused on those whites who were motivated by race not to vote for black candidates...
...What's more, he did not make a strong effort to dissociate himself from supporters perceived to be anti-Semitic...
...In other words, at least 12 percent of Rice's vote came from backers of the anti-busing measure...
...Senate in North Carolina...
...movement has seen him compare the district's status to slavery...
...And on a non-racial theme dear to the hearts of conservative voters, Wilder opposed any new taxes...
...ambassador to good ol' boy...
...Carver could do with a peanut...
...Says an Atlanta journalist: "Young can do more with white people than Dr...
...He has been a responsible public servant, takes care of his yard, and has a beautiful wife with a Ph.D...
...To be sure, this change was not apparent everywhere: David Dinkins's election as New York City's first black mayor, while no less publicized than the other racial "firsts," is a reminder that old-style racial politics is still with us...
...Young's failure to appeal to a higher percentage of whites is no doubt due in part to the difficulty he's had in making the transition from former aide to Martin Luther King and Jimmy Carter's U.N...
...y et even New York was part of a little-noticed trend during last year's elections: white voters are getting accustomed to black participation in politics...
...Two years ago, a former operative of the Democratic National Committee told me he would trade 20 percent of the black vote to the Republicans to ease his party's burden of being identified as the party of the blacks...
...Unlike Wilder's and Rice's campaigns, which found a way to attract whites, Dinkins's campaign turned them off...
...John Conyers, the black Democrat from Michigan, has introduced legislation calling for reparations to blacks for the harm done by slavery...
...An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll shows Young leading in the Georgia governor's race...
...Commenting on the Wilder and Dinkins victories, Young sounded straight off the-set of "Hee Haw": "I always felt that white folk in Georgia are way ahead of white -folk in New York or Virginia...
...He spoke out against the Labor Day violence of black students at Virginia Beach and he supported capital punishment...
...Even though Cole had once worked for the late Senator James Eastland, I was certain that further identification of the Democratic party with blacks was going to hurt Democrats in Mississippi...
...Only in New York City, that citadel of liberalism, was white resistance to a black candidate striking, especially because the 30 percent of the white votethat went to Dinkins represented a huge drop-off among...
...While voters were approving the anti-busing measure by the narrowest of margins (50.03 percent to 49.97 percent), they were giving Rice 57 percent of the vote...
...In Mississippi, Rep...
...In Seattle, environmental/development issues were prominent...
...But neither are they saints, and much of the black political agenda of recent years has required far more selflessness among Caucasians than it is reasonable to presume...
...Still, Wilder's and Rice's willingness to assume a moderate stance even on racially touchy issues probably explains the positive response they received from GOP-leaning voters...
...It is these voters—and the moderate black politicians they supported—who are creating a new racial climate in American politics that is already evident in the early sparring for the 1990 elections...
...Nevertheless, in the coming years a number of black politicians nationwide will seek higher office in races where the support of white voters will be essential to victory...
...The '89 results, and the moderate black campaigns to come, could lessen the Democrats' burden...
...Nonetheless, the 1989 off-year elections may have signalled a change in the nation's racial politics...
...In the Old Dominion State, about 14 percent of the voters who backed George Bush in 1988 crossed over to vote for the Democrat Wilder...
...Neither proposal is likely to bridge the nation's racial gap...
...publishes Southern Political Report...
...Indeed, one black Seattle schoolboard member who opposes busing was re-elected with strong support in both black and white precincts...
...Although still something of a long shot, Andy Young has a chance to repeat Doug Wilder's feat in 1990...
...And Dinkins's ethical problems—such as failing to file an income tax return—were a factor in New York City...
...Namibia is not a cause that white folk in Georgia cotton to...
Vol. 23 • February 1990 • No. 2
