“The American idea of racial progress is measured by how fast I become white.”
Jeffrey Boyd comes to my mind when I think about this quote by author and poet James Baldwin. The idea is that you can’t literally become white, but in terms of your thinking, behavior and responses to the world, you can rewire yourself to be as compatible with whiteness as possible. This seems to be the case with Boyd. His unconditional support for Mayor Francis Slay has proven to be detrimental, but has brought no awakening.
Last week, Alderman Boyd lost his second attempt to hold a city-wide office. The first time was for treasurer. In both cases, he challenged black women. (Two white men were also in the treasurer’s race.) This doesn’t have to mean anything negative, as it’s all fair game when a candidate runs for office – black, white, male, female, straight or gay.
When Boyd stepped into the political arena back in 2002, he was virtually unknown. He was the only person to step up against the incumbent’s successor who had Mayor Slay’s blessing and war machine behind him.
Once elected, it wasn’t long before the non-traditional political ward model that his campaign team had envisioned was abandoned by the new alderman. The model would empower ward residents to be at the forefront of rebuilding a ward that had long been neglected by the previous alderperson.
Boyd further alienated his supporters when he endorsed Slay in 2005 without consultation with his team or ward approval. The irony is that the same criticisms Boyd threw at his opponent can now be thrown at him. The chorus he sang during his campaign was that the mayor “steals money and mistreats North St. Louis.” Boyd’s tune changed to “the mayor can help bring services and resources to the ward.”
Those goodies Alderman Boyd promised that would come from his cozy relationship with the mayor have yet to arrive. As a result of the continued negligence in the ward, the exodus of residents continued at basically the same rate as it did with the previous alderman. Same goes for the rise in abandoned buildings and vacant lots.
Last week The St. Louis American reported that in 2013 and 2014 the 22nd Ward lost 44 businesses. That kind of hemorrhaging in 18 months undermines the viability of any ward, especially one that’s been on life support for so long.
The measure of how fast Boyd became white (in Baldwin’s sense) is witnessed by how fast he learned the plantation playbook of the mayor. The alderman was hoping that if he did the mayor’s dirty work – showed white voters that a black official supports Slay – he would soon get a promotion. The attack ads on Mavis Thompson and ads promoting himself as a good patriot (in his Army Reserve uniform) were designed to appeal to white conservatives on the South Side.
The ward breakdown in the license collector race was quite revealing. Besides his own 22nd Ward, Boyd did not take a single black ward, losing in some by a 2:1 margin. The South carried him, but it wasn’t enough for a victory. He won both his ward and the ward where the mayor currently resides (12th) by 60 percent. If you have the mayor’s blessing and you’re doing the right thing on your home turf, the percentages in each of those wards should have been much higher.
During the last mayoral election Jamilah Nasheed told us the reason the mayor won’t do anything for the North Side is because we don’t support him. The few people who kiss the ring get the favors. Boyd has adopted that philosophy for the 22nd Ward. This strategy is unsustainable, because inevitably your adversaries grow, outnumbering your supporters, and soon there’s an uprising in your fiefdom.
Renew 22 was launched early this summer to bring some vitality to the ward, to build political power and to get neighbors working together to improve their quality of life. The Renew 22 campaign may not be an insurrection, but it’s an alternative to the do-nothing plan that’s going on now. Residents know the alderperson has been AWOL, spending time to run for higher office. The expectation by the 22nd Ward is that Alderman Boyd should earn his paycheck the old-fashioned way – by working for it.
