Rick Dean
Registered
3
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr04/219624.asp
Already, black Milwaukee has rocked the vote
Posted: April 3, 2004
Eugene Kane
Like many black Milwaukeeans, I am in love with the idea of a black mayor in Milwaukee.
I think that disturbs some people, even if they won't admit it.
This is a town where people avoid talking about race whenever possible. But when it's right up in their faces - like it is right now - there's no way to avoid it.
Why else
ould the race for City Hall have become a referendum on whether the town will go to hell in a handbasket if the black guy wins?
Frankly, it sounds like some folks are extremely nervous about a newly d
is
overed muscle in town: black voting power.
These are the same folks hoping against hope that the once-sleep
ing giant known as "voting-age black Milwaukee" goes back to Dreamland on Tuesday.
Or that most blacks in town don't cast their votes based on race. Because, as the thought goes, that would be racist.
Puh-leeeze!
There is nothing more hilarious than white Milwaukee telling black Milwaukee not to use race as a factor on Election Day.
For most of this city's history, things have been defined by white residents who use race to decide where they live, where their children go to school, where the money goes, and who gets to be in charge.
Turnabout is always fair play, isn't it?
There are lots of Milwaukeeans ready to fall in l
ove with the idea of a black mayor. They are infatuated with the potential for real change and new opportunity in the upper reaches of city government.
They are in love with the idea of pr
ovin
g a
black mayo
r can do just as good a job running the city as anybody else. Because some people still don't believe that.
They are in love with the idea o
f showing little black children how far their dreams can reach, all the way to the mayor's office.
These black voters are madly in love; there's been lots of dirt dumped on their significant other, but nobody's canceling the wedding.
Suddenly, Milwaukee has become a city where black voters realize they don't have to worry about the blowhards on conservative talk radio or the newspaper endorsements or all the suburbanites watching this race from afar.
None of that matters. It's all about numbers now.
The latest poll results showed Pratt and Barrett in a dead heat with about 12% undecided.
The sm
art money after last week's scolding of Pratt by District Attorney E. Michael McCann for his embarrassing handling of personal finances is that most undecided voters will vote for
Barrett.
But nobody knows
how smart that money is for sure until Tuesday night.
Black voters were dismayed by Pratt's recent troubles but not disheartened. The reason: They know Pratt and they trust him.
It would have been a shock to find out he was using campaign funds for his own personal gain; when the facts showed Pratt was simply being clueless about his own money, many folks just grinned and shook their heads:
"That's just Marvin being Marvin."
In conversations with white readers who can't understand Pratt's popularity with black voters, I've tried to explain that his likability factor is comparable to that of our president, George W. Bush.
(In this case, that's not meant as a insult.)
Pratt is like Bush in that many of his supporters ack
nowledge his failings but still support him.
Frankly, anybody who says they won't vote for Pratt because they think he's incompetent but plans to vote for Bu
sh in Novemb
er loses al
l credibility with me.
If you can vote for a guy who started World War III under false pretenses, I think it's ridiculous to talk about losing faith in a candidate because of minor bookkeeping errors.
I admit I'm in love with the idea of a black
mayor partly because the very possibility has got some folks in town awfully nervous.
The panic in the voices of certain right-wing talk show hosts as they assure their suburban listening base there's no way that reasonable folks could elect someone such as Pratt is indicative of that fear.
Some are even wondering aloud if there will be "trouble" from blacks if Pratt doesn't win. Which, in my opinion, just shows how little we really understand each other here.
All this anxiety is the most tangible sign that the s
tunning turnout of black voters in the February primary shook the foundations of many powerful institutions in Milwaukee.
After 20 years of living in thi
s community, one
thing I can sa
y with relative assurance is this
is a place where many people assumed that blacks wouldn't show up at the polls when it was important.
Whether Pratt wins Tuesday or not, those days are likely over. Nobody will take the black vote for granted again.
Which is why I think it's perfec
tly fine to be in love with the idea of a black mayor and act accordingly, disregarding what others are saying about the relationship.
When it comes to a love that others don't fully understand, there's only one reasonable course of action:
You just close your eyes and let yourself fall.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr04/219624.asp
Already, black Milwaukee has rocked the vote
Posted: April 3, 2004
Eugene Kane
Like many black Milwaukeeans, I am in love with the idea of a black mayor in Milwaukee.
I think that disturbs some people, even if they won't admit it.
This is a town where people avoid talking about race whenever possible. But when it's right up in their faces - like it is right now - there's no way to avoid it.
Why else
ould the race for City Hall have become a referendum on whether the town will go to hell in a handbasket if the black guy wins?
Frankly, it sounds like some folks are extremely nervous about a newly d
is
overed muscle in town: black voting power.
These are the same folks hoping against hope that the once-sleep
ing giant known as "voting-age black Milwaukee" goes back to Dreamland on Tuesday.
Or that most blacks in town don't cast their votes based on race. Because, as the thought goes, that would be racist.
Puh-leeeze!
There is nothing more hilarious than white Milwaukee telling black Milwaukee not to use race as a factor on Election Day.
For most of this city's history, things have been defined by white residents who use race to decide where they live, where their children go to school, where the money goes, and who gets to be in charge.
Turnabout is always fair play, isn't it?
There are lots of Milwaukeeans ready to fall in l
ove with the idea of a black mayor. They are infatuated with the potential for real change and new opportunity in the upper reaches of city government.
They are in love with the idea of pr
ovin
g a
black mayo
r can do just as good a job running the city as anybody else. Because some people still don't believe that.
They are in love with the idea o
f showing little black children how far their dreams can reach, all the way to the mayor's office.
These black voters are madly in love; there's been lots of dirt dumped on their significant other, but nobody's canceling the wedding.
Suddenly, Milwaukee has become a city where black voters realize they don't have to worry about the blowhards on conservative talk radio or the newspaper endorsements or all the suburbanites watching this race from afar.
None of that matters. It's all about numbers now.
The latest poll results showed Pratt and Barrett in a dead heat with about 12% undecided.
The sm
art money after last week's scolding of Pratt by District Attorney E. Michael McCann for his embarrassing handling of personal finances is that most undecided voters will vote for
Barrett.
But nobody knows
how smart that money is for sure until Tuesday night.
Black voters were dismayed by Pratt's recent troubles but not disheartened. The reason: They know Pratt and they trust him.
It would have been a shock to find out he was using campaign funds for his own personal gain; when the facts showed Pratt was simply being clueless about his own money, many folks just grinned and shook their heads:
"That's just Marvin being Marvin."
In conversations with white readers who can't understand Pratt's popularity with black voters, I've tried to explain that his likability factor is comparable to that of our president, George W. Bush.
(In this case, that's not meant as a insult.)
Pratt is like Bush in that many of his supporters ack
nowledge his failings but still support him.
Frankly, anybody who says they won't vote for Pratt because they think he's incompetent but plans to vote for Bu
sh in Novemb
er loses al
l credibility with me.
If you can vote for a guy who started World War III under false pretenses, I think it's ridiculous to talk about losing faith in a candidate because of minor bookkeeping errors.
I admit I'm in love with the idea of a black
mayor partly because the very possibility has got some folks in town awfully nervous.
The panic in the voices of certain right-wing talk show hosts as they assure their suburban listening base there's no way that reasonable folks could elect someone such as Pratt is indicative of that fear.
Some are even wondering aloud if there will be "trouble" from blacks if Pratt doesn't win. Which, in my opinion, just shows how little we really understand each other here.
All this anxiety is the most tangible sign that the s
tunning turnout of black voters in the February primary shook the foundations of many powerful institutions in Milwaukee.
After 20 years of living in thi
s community, one
thing I can sa
y with relative assurance is this
is a place where many people assumed that blacks wouldn't show up at the polls when it was important.
Whether Pratt wins Tuesday or not, those days are likely over. Nobody will take the black vote for granted again.
Which is why I think it's perfec
tly fine to be in love with the idea of a black mayor and act accordingly, disregarding what others are saying about the relationship.
When it comes to a love that others don't fully understand, there's only one reasonable course of action:
You just close your eyes and let yourself fall.
