While there is in the black community of St. Louis a feeling of consternation, and even frustration, over the fact that in the race for mayor there notable black candidates vying against only one notable white candidate, it should not be assumed that the black vote will be split and the white candidate will be the next mayor.
When the first black mayor, Freeman Bosley Jr., was elected in 1993, there was the thought that because another formidable black candidate, Steven Roberts, was also in the race, neither could possibly win. Despite attempts to get Roberts to pull out, he remained in the contest as a strong candidate. Nevertheless, Bosley received the overwhelming vote of the black electorate, which was the base that propelled his victory.
In the 2012 race for Missouri’s 5th Senatorial District, the incumbent black state senator, Robin Wright-Jones, was challenged by black state Representative Jamilah Nasheed. With these two black candidates competing against each other, a white state representative, Jeanette Mott-Oxford, threw her hat in the ring. Nevertheless, Nasheed was victorious.
These elections exemplify that the black electorate will, despite several black candidates being on the ballot, gravitate in mass towards one black candidate. Blacks have shown themselves as capable of choosing one black from among several in a political contest as they are in choosing one cereal from among the many brands lining a grocery aisle. And they are as capable of sorting out and choosing one to back through the voting process as, alternatively, one being chosen for them by a political kingpin.
In viewing the March 7 Democratic primary for mayor, of all the capable black candidates running for mayor, only one provides the black community the opportunity to make history – Tishaura Jones. If she is able to couple the strength of the black vote – measured by turnout and being united around one – with her white and diverse progressive following, she will become the first African-American woman to serve as the city’s mayor.
Her black opponents include Lewis Reed, who unsuccessfully ran four years ago for mayor in an election where the overall voter turnout was 22 percent, with white voters comprising about 55 percent of those who turned out to vote. Although blacks outnumbered whites among the voting age population, they apparently were not inspired to turn out to vote for Reed.
The black community will also have to choose between Jones and Antonio French, who has never run for citywide office. The fact that prominent progressive organizations and individuals have almost unanimously endorsed Jones, when French was considered competitive for these progressive endorsements, make his electability in this field dubious.
I support Tishaura O. Jones, both because she is a stellar candidate and because she is cut from the same cloth as of one of this city’s legendary fighters for African-American people, her father, former city comptroller Virvus Jones. His struggle strengthened her and us. Our struggle is to choose to elect her mayor.
Eric E. Vickers is an attorney, activist and former chief of staff for state Senator Jamilah Nasheed.
