As we are on the eve of what may be the most powerful Black achievement in
U.S. history, it would be well to examine the history of Black political
leadership in this country.
Most historical researchers look to the 1967 election of Carl Stokes
(1927-1996) as mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, as the emergence of Black political
power in major American cities. Many Blacks saw this as the beginning of an age
of freedom for our people.
From the 1960s to now, we most certainly have been disabused of that
notion.
For while Black political leadership has surely been a source of pride, they
have not been a source of Black political power.
That’s because as agents of the state, they must defend the interests of
the state, even when this conflicts with the interests of their people.
For example, let’s look at the experience of Mayor Stokes.
Shortly after taking office, Stokes appointed former U.S. Army Lt. Gen.
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. as his public safety director, a kind of super police
chief. Gen. Davis, fresh from the rigors of Vietnam, ordered 30,000 rounds of
hollow point or dumdum bullets, items in violation of the laws of war.
The object of his ire? The Cleveland branch of the Black Panther Party and a
local office of the National Committee to Combat Fascism, a Panther support
group.
In August 1970, Gen. Davis resigned from the post and criticized Mayor Stokes
for not giving him sufficient support in his battle against radicals like the
Panthers.
Stokes, the more politically adroit of the two, made Davis look bad for
ordering ammo which violated the Geneva Conventions, but Stokes’ personal
papers revealed meetings between the two men and their agreement on dumdums as
appropriate arms to be used against Panthers.
Just because he was a Black mayor didn’t mean he wasn’t dedicated
to destroying a Black organization. Indeed, in times of Black uprising and mass
discontent, Black mayors seem the perfect instrument of repression, for they
dispel charges of racism.
If Barack Obama wins the White House, it will be a considerable political
achievement. It will be made possible only by the votes of millions of whites,
most especially younger voters.
This does not diminish such an achievement; it just sharpens the nature of
it.
But Black faces in high places does not freedom make.
Power is far more than presence. It is the ability to meet people’s
political objectives of freedom, independence and material well-being.
We are as far from those objectives as we were in 1967.
Source: Ryan Nissim-Sabat, “Panthers Set Up Shop in Cleveland,”
p. 111; from Judson L. Jeffries, ed., “Comrades: Local History of the
Black Panther Party” (Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press,
2007), pp. 89-144.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE