The Story of Harold Washington

Recently I listened to a fascinating podcast on This American Life about Harold Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor. I found his story especially interesting because he came to power by battling an established political machine similar to that of boss Crump, and by subverting the expectations of a leader elected to serve the interests of a particular demographic.

                There was a power gap after the death of Richard J. Daley, who controlled Chicago politics for twenty-one years. After two other mayors served black political leaders saw an opportunity to get a black man elected to mayor. Washington was a congressman at the time before running. He ran against two white candidates, one of whom was the incumbent and the other was the late Daley’s son. In debates, Washington proved to be an electrifying speaker and embarrassed his opponents for failing to answer questions. He was not afraid to call out Chicago’s racist establishment. Once in a debate Washington was asked to, as a gesture, name something that he thought he could learn from Daley. In front of Daley’s son, he said there is nothing good he could take from Daley. He was a known racist. Usually in Chicago politics, whoever is the leading democrat is the presumptive winner. However, the outrage against a black candidate was so great that Washington’s republican candidate had a serious shot at winning.

                In his tenure Washington went against expectations from both his black base and the political machine that awaited him. Many of the black voters that elected him wanted him to become their special interest mayor. White people had already had their mayors who represented whites to the exclusion of all others. Poles and Irish voters elected officials to represent specific interests before and it had been considered good ethnic pride. What Washington did instead was repeat in speeches that unlike some of his predecessors he was going to be “fairer than fair.” He planned special treatment to no one based on race. In some ways this sounds like post racial rhetoric to appease white voters, but most people think that he genuinely thought that. I personally think that it is often “fair” to take corrective action to help groups of people who were ignored by the previous administrations.  And white voters still did not like him. In his first term he had many issues with the city council for refusing to participate in the political machine. This conflict is known today as the “Council Wars.”

                The story of Harold Washington is an interesting case study in how black folks can achieve political power, but it is also about how individual black folks must navigate expectations. Harold Washington inherited an ethnically divided city with a political structure that did not want to work with him, yet he tried to find a way to be a mayor to both black and white Chicagoans for better or worse.

https://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/84/harold

Pledged, 

Matthew Coughlon