Black Mayors, White Majorities: The Balancing Act of Racial Politics

7 Trickle-Up Public Opinion

155 CHAPTER 7 Trickle-Up Public Opinion Universalizing Black Interests Perceptions I think the mayor is 100 percent dedicated to what she feels is right, but is it the right path? Could that energy be used elsewhere? Ken Sulfridge, AFSCME–Dayton Region union leader Mayor Ford of Toledo and Mayor McLin of Dayton were both first elected under similar conditions in 2001. In both cities severe budget shortfalls, struggling public schools and downtowns, and a lack of corporate leadership posed serious challenges. And both cities elected black mayors who were “firsts,” surmounting significant historical barriers to public office: Ford was the first black mayor of Toledo, and McLin was the first female mayor of Dayton. Even given these and other constraints, however, Ford and McLin were able to introduce policies and programs that had an impact on the quality of life of black residents. Chapters 5 and 6 showed how the presence of a black mayor led to an active pursuit of black interests on select issues: contracting for Ford and housing and neighborhood development for McLin. In this chapter after defining what is meant by “black quality of life,” I will detail the extent to which the mayors’ actions are examples of the pursuit of black interests. In addition, I examine the responses of eighty-one interviewees to three questions to reveal white and black citizens’ differing perceptions of their mayors’ efforts. I will then draw conclusions regarding which of the hypotheses of this book have been confirmed by the data. 156 TRICKLE-UP PUBLIC OPINION Assessing Black Quality of Life In an effort to better code and define particular mayoral efforts as substantively meaningful attempts to improve “black quality of life,” I created a political typology that classifies mayoral activity. The representative efforts range from the largely descriptive to the seminally substantive. This range serves as the frame for describing what constitutes quality-of-life improvements. I conceptualized five essential categories. For any mayoral effort, a value of one is low, indicating that the mayor made only a relatively insignificant attempt to improve black quality of life, while a value of five is high since activities placed in category five were more difficult to pursue. Each category contextualizes how a mayor achieved his or her goals and indicates how he or she prioritized policy decisions through administrative management. 1. The Politics of Shared Racial Experience. Evidence of mayoral responsiveness and recognition of black constituent concerns is manifested in symbolic gestures situated within the context of shared racial experience. One example in which a mayor expresses such shared racial experience with constituents is Harold Washington’s 1983 campaign slogan, “It’s our turn.”1 Another might be the mayor’s officiating in the marriage ceremony of black constituents.2 Noticeably in these examples the mayor and the constituents are drawn together by African Americans’ common experience of slavery and institutionalized racism. Within this context blacks are also diverse, and there are individual differences in how much intensity African American mayors exercise in addressing black constituent interests. 2. Access and Opportunity: The Policy Incorporation of Black Interests . Evidence of black mayors’ attempts at incorporating and mobilizing blacks includes their appointment and hiring of qualified African Americans in visible, significant positions across the spectrum of city government. In the example of hiring practices the black mayor is making a political and economic contribution to the lived experiences of qualified African Americans. Identifying employment opportunities for blacks is an expression of shared racial experience TRICKLE-UP PUBLIC OPINION 157 since blacks may not have been given the same level of access and opportunity in prior or subsequent administrations. A mayor’s active hiring and appointing of qualified African Americans makes a difference for politics and power. 3. The Politics of Constituent Service. Constituent services range from neighborhood street cleaning, paving, and development to trash removal and snowplowing to tree stump removal and improved street lighting and signs. 4. Programs for Black Middle-Class and/or Low-Income Residents. Evidence in this policy or program arena is multilayered as the beneficiaries might extend beyond the black community. In the allocation of city contracts, for example, are contracts awarded according to the percentage required by the city’s good-faith goals? Does the mayor monitor the allocation of the contracts in a way that is fair and equitable to ensure that minority contractors have access and opportunity to apply?3 In a...