On November 7, 1967, the voters of Cleveland, Ohio, and Gary,
Indiana, elected the nation's first African-American mayors to
govern their cities. Ten years later more than two hundred black
mayors held office, and by 1993 sixty-seven major urban centers,
most with majority-white populations, were headed by African
Americans. Once in office, African-American mayors faced vexing
challenges. In large and small cities from the Sunbelt to the
Rustbelt, black mayors assumed office during economic downturns and
confronted the intractable problems of decaying inner cities, white
flight, a dwindling tax base, violent crime, and diminishing
federal support for social programs. Many encountered hostility
from their own parties, city councils, and police departments;
others worked against long-established power structures dominated
by local business owners or politicians. Still others, while trying
to respond to multiple demands from a diverse constituency, were
viewed as traitors by blacks expecting special attention from a
leader of their own race. All struggled with the contradictory
mandate of meeting the increasing needs of poor inner-city
residents while keeping white businesses from fleeing to the
suburbs. This is the first comprehensive treatment of the complex
phenomenon of African-American mayors in the nation's major urban
centers. Offering a diverse portrait of leadership, conflict, and
almost insurmountable obstacles, this volume assesses the political
alliances that brought black mayors to office as well as their
accomplishments--notably, increased minority hiring and funding for
minority businesses--and the challenges that marked their careers.
Mayors profiled include Carl B. Stokes (Cleveland), Richard G.
Hatcher (Gary), "Dutch" Morial (New Orleans), Harold Washington
(Chicago), Tom Bradley (Los Angeles), Marion Barry (Washington,
D.C.), David Dinkins (New York City), Coleman Young (Detroit), and
a succession of black mayors in Atlanta (Maynard Jackson, Andrew
Young, and Bill Campbell). Probing the elusive economic dimension
of black power, African-American Mayors demonstrates how the same
circumstances that set the stage for the victories of black mayors
exaggerated the obstacles they faced.
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