by
Rev. Jim Holley, pastor of Historic Little Rock Baptist Church in Detroit
With early polls continuing to suggest a tight Detroit mayoral contest, Mike Duggan backers hope to cut into what they clearly fear could be a quiet advantage for rival Benny Napoleon: Race.
In a column for the Detroit News, African-American church leader Jim Holley takes point, pleading with black voters to "look past" race as a factor in the upcoming election this fall, when Duggan is expected to make a strong bid to become the city's first white mayor since 1972.
The piece doesn't directly endorse either man, but is chock full of the typical boiler plate platitudes about color-blindedness and character and, of course, the obligatory invocation of Marty Mart:
Our new mayor’s power to transform our city will be determined — to quote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — by the content of his character.
A half-century ago this month, Dr. King led 125,000 people down Woodward Avenue, marching for jobs and justice. He also delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at Cobo Center, before his historic recitation two months later in Washington, D.C.
I have a dream today that Detroiters can leave behind the old, racial way of thinking that only a black man can lead our mostly black city. It’s a new day. It’s a new millennium.
Just as Dr. King did 50 years ago for our nation, I am urging Detroiters to look past skin color and focus on which candidate has the best vision for our city.
But here's the thing: Poll after poll clearly shows that black voters are already willing to give Duggan consideration.
Duggan Has Solid Share Already
For instance, a recent Detroit Free Press/WXYZ-TV poll shows that 36 percent percent of African-American respondents are already back Duggan. Napoleon enjoys 45 percent of the support among blacks in the poll.
Among whites who were polled, though, Napoleon had only 19 percent of the vote. Duggan, meanwhile, draws support from 60 percent of the whites surveyed.
Yes, I understand that whites only make up slightly more than 10 percent of the city's population, whereas blacks are nearly 90 percent. So I get the emphasis placed on the black vote.
But the problem is, Holley's piece rests on the same hoary lie about black voters that always gets dredged up whenever a black and white candidate squares off: It's black voters who need to be lectured to about getting over race, who aren't smart enough or mature enough to consider any other factors and who back candidates only out of a sense of racial solidarity.
Needless to say, this is, was and always has been bullshit.
Let's Look at History
Black people vote their best interests, same as anyone else. Is it true that many black voters are wary of white politicians as representatives of these interests? Sure. We've got American history to thank for that.
Is it true that many blacks enjoy seeing black politicians succeed? Without a doubt. After all, those successes are built on, and serve to validate, a centuries-long fight for equality for black Americans.
But as far as giving a vote to blacks we view as unqualified: Ask guys like Alan Keyes, Al Sharpton, Arthur Davis and Harold Ford Jr. how that worked out for them.
Nowhere in the piece does Holley list Duggan's accomplishments. Nowhere in the piece does he explain Duggan's qualifications. Nowhere does he detail Duggan's "vision." Nowhere does he say why Napoleon isn't the better choice.
Holley -- who came out for Duggan in February -- doesn't even own up in the column to which candidate he backs. While it'd be perfectly fine for Holley to admit his piece is an endorsement of Duggan, the column tries to pass itself off as some sort of uninfluenced, unbiased call for voters to objectively measure of each candidates abilities.
(As it stands, I don't find either of the media-anointed front runners to be very compelling based on what they've shown: Duggan comes off as a disingenuous, albeit relatively polished, political careerist from the same ethically challenged Ed McNamara machine that gave us the Kilpatricks. Napoleon seems to be little more than an unaccomplished appointee lacking the savvy and skill to go along with his obvious passion for the city.)
If either man is going to win, it'll be because he's got the best ideas, captured the most hearts and imaginations and ran the best campaign.
At a time when this city is desperate for quality leadership, black voters certainly shouldn't dismiss Duggan simply because he's white. But neither should all these platitudes about the "new millennium" make black voters feel obligated to "prove" anything by voting for Duggan because he's white.
Trying to pre-empt race as a consideration is understandable, but, at this point, it's useless and, the way Holley's piece does it, kind of dishonest.
I mean, does anyone who understands the dynamics of American race relations really believe that blacks see white skin as sign of incompetence or lack of qualification? Holley, once a firebrand civil-rights activist in Detroit, surely knows better.
Reality Check
Whiteness may carry negative connotations among some blacks — "trustworthiness" might be a problem, as mentioned earlier — but nothing about how race operates in this country equates whiteness with intellectual inferiority (even when the white person in question really is dumb as rocks.)
This is a parallel that's as false the equivalence between Barack Obama's election and Duggan's aspirations that Holley tries to manufacture. ("If America is ready for a black president, then surely Detroit is ready for a white mayor.")
C'mon, son. Obama made a historic breakthrough to become the first black President ever. Duggan would not be Detroit's first-ever white mayor -- or the first one blacks voted for -- just the first since black people took political control of the city in the 1970s.
That's not to say Duggan doesn't have obstacles, just that the ones Holley is fretting over are being over-hyped.
I haven't run into anyone who thinks Mike Duggan is stupid or incapable, and certainly not because of his skin color. Duggan shouldn't run from issues of race, but neither should he and his camp keep harping on his whiteness by constantly telling black voters not to harp on his whiteness. Holley can rest assured that most Detroiters probably just want to know who can get the job done.
So instead of these mayoral hopefuls, and their surrogates, constantly asking black voters if Detroit is "ready" for them, they should just stick to showing voters why the candidates are ready for Detroit.
