Over the holiday weekend Jesse Jackson (“gulp”) appears to have brokered a deal whereby Danny Davis agreed to drop out of Chicago’s mayoral race leaving Carol Mosley Braun as arguably the only viable black mayoral candidate. Oh to be a fly on the wall listening in on those negotiations!
It does beg the question: what does it mean to be the “black” candidate? One would have thought that poor schools, budget deficits, rising crime and deteriorating infrastructure would be problems to be solved regardless of the candidate’s pigmentation. I suppose Ms. Braun could run on a platform supporting reparations for slavery, renaming Chicago Du Sable City or replacing Christmas with Kawanza.
Imagine if you will Rahm Emanuel and Gary Chico meeting to discuss who should run as the “non-white” candidate. People would rightfully be outraged. What’s the difference?
I thought Obama’s election might have moved the needle on racial politics in Chicago. Guess not.
