Who with any political acumen would think that Lewis Reed has the personality, charisma and record to galvanize the black community and to generate a groundswell of support that will bring out black voters in sufficient magnitude to overcome the white vote that is surely going to go to Jim Shrewsbury?
According to FIRE, the black firefighter’s organization, Reed has been endorsed by the white firefighter’s organization because he has a record of supporting white interests over that of black people. He voted to move the predominantly black 20th Ward from North St. Louis to the South Side, thus causing the number of black aldermen to be decreased. He unsuccessfully supported an effort to eliminate the one black to one white hiring policy for firefighters. Finally, he opposed the policy by which a current city employee gets first preference whenever a vacancy occurs in the fire department – a policy that helps black people get jobs as firefighters.
With such a record, Lewis Reed certainly won’t inspire black voters to turn out in record numbers to vote for him.
Arthur Miller
Via email