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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"The plan was simple: wreak as much havoc as possibly by blocking every single thing..."
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On this 30th anniversary of his inauguration as the first black man ever to be elected to the Big Chair on the 5th floor of Chicago' City Hall, lots of people are retrospecting thoughtfully on the legacy of Harold Washington this week, but surprisingly few of them are devoting any ink at all to what I consider to be the two most divisive and, ultimately, educational reactions to his campaign and his first term.
First, the massive, racist backlash by ethnic whites: people who had been taught to vote straight Daley Party ticket since they were at their sainted mother's breast and who fled the Party overnight to vote en masse for the Republican candidate, Bernie Epton:
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And, second, the brutal, obstructionist campaign carried out against him by his opponents after he won fair and square.
Harold terrified Chicago's ethnic white rank-and-file voters because he was black. Period. And Harold terrified the white power structure because he was black and because he came to power on the strength of his coalition-building and on a platform that promised to attack the widespread institutional corruption that fueled much of Chicago government, and to more fairly distribute government services.
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The plan was simple: wreak as much havoc as possibly by blocking every single thing the duly elected mayor proposed while incessantly inflaming the paranoia and rage of their base. Force Harold to sustain basic city operations by executive order...and then attack him for being a dictator. Make the city ungovernable on purpose...and then try to hold Harold responsible for the poison fruits of their deliberate sabotage:
After the election of Harold Washington, the first black mayor of Chicago, in 1983, a group of 29 of the city's 50 aldermen led by "the Eddies"Ed Vrdolyak and Ed Burkefought the mayor at every turn. The block of 29, known as the Vrdolyak 29, consisted of 28 white councilmen and the body's only Hispanic member.
The Vrdolyak 29 would not only block the mayor's proposals, but would even block his appointments, a purely symbolic move as they were able to take places running city departments on an interim basis anyway. In their first session under the Washington administration, they voted themselves in charge of every single council committee. Some members even admitted that they blocked the mayor's proposals when they thought they had merit, because they claimed a good measure by Washington would be bad in the long run for the city because it would help prolong his mayorship.
Many believe the opposition was racially motivated. There certainly was grounds for believing that as the 1983 mayoral election which Washington won gained national headlines for its ugly and racially divisive nature.
The Vrdolyak 29 had a majority of votes, but not enough to override a mayoral veto, thus creating legislative gridlock. Chicago became known as "Beirut by the Lake."
If this sounds remarkably familiar it is because, 30 years later, this is exactly the same strategy the GOP has been using for the last five years in an attempt to fatally wound the Obama Administration:
http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2013/05/before-its-too-late.html
unblock
(52,164 posts)NOT obama himself, his surrogates;
NOT calling republicans racists per se;
and moving beyond the question of whether or not the tactic IS or IS NOT racism.
specifically, at what point does the obama administration get a political advantage out of having some administration official put the meme out there that this chronic obstructionism is actually racist?
Pirate Smile
(27,617 posts)n2doc
(47,953 posts)He needs to be much more active and forceful criticizing the do nothing congress, like Truman did. He needs to convince voters in the house races that they need to toss out these obstructionists in order to have a functioning government. I fully believe that, if we elect a dem president in '16, and still are stuck with the same congress, nothing will change. Even if said dem president is a lilly-white man.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)He is not without powers, after all. Take for example the recent fast-track passage of the law that "fixes FAA sequestration". My understanding is that this did not allocate any more money to the FAA. It simply gave the FAA more authority to move funds around to meet their priorities (supporting safe, efficient flights).
Well, if Obama actually gave a damn about any of this, he could say "Not so fast, boys. I'm vetoing this bill. You send me a bill that gives me that authority for ALL agencies and then you can fly home without long delays."
How hard would that be? And it would be a huge political winner because it would call attention to the hypocrisy of fatcats just fixing the problems that annoy them and leaving everybody else to suffer. I would also point out how stupid the sequestration was. The problem isn't the cuts as much as the RIGIDITY of the cuts. Who would be against agencies spending our tax dollars more wisely?
But what did Obama do? Not a damn thing. I am sick of people here saying "Oh dearie, Obama just can't do anything because of those mean old teabaggers." Bullshit. He can pull the plug on production of the tanks in Boehner's district. There are all sorts of things he can do to make life just as unpleasant for the Republicans as they have been doing to him. They will never act reasonably until he stands up to them. Never.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)This is not about Obama, it's about blocking a democratic agenda. Obama is smart enough to realize that. If Obama decided he'd had enough and stepped down tomorrow, you really think everything would be kittens and rainbows with Joe Biden? No, they would continue on this exact same path. The would still want to dismantle the safety net, get rid of all business and environmental regulations, and offer no protections to any citizen who wasn't part of the 99%.
That who they are.
mopinko
(70,067 posts)i was here. trust me. it was racism then, it is racism now.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)I'm not denying the racism. I'm saying that without the race issue they would still be doing the same things.
They didn't like Clinton, a nice whiter than white southern boy. To this day they vilify Gore. Remember Carter and the hostage crisis? They will do what ever is necessary to destroy a democratic POTUS. With Obama it's racism. With a woman POTUS it WILL be sexism.
mopinko
(70,067 posts)they were loud and proud. monkeys, watermelon, chicken. i am sure there were harold with an african headdress and a bone in his nose.
before it's too late.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)It's personal.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
Tatiana
(14,167 posts)Vrdolyak was openly disrespecful and hostile for no reason. Some of the reforms Washington wanted to implement had already been discussed by the city council. You nailed it. This is exactly the same strategy. Oppose everything and weaken the governing power and capacity of the duly elected leader.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)warrior1
(12,325 posts)and if the the Democratic party doesn't come in to fill this void, some one else will.
The people are coming.
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)Why aren't we screaming this from the rooftops? Write letters to your local newspaper, your favorite magazine, your most hated magazine, bury TV news channels (fox, msnbc, cnn, and any other place talking heads gather. We know they parrot news; lets write a parrot script) blogging systems, Tweet it out, talk about it at work, take out advertising space on billboards, etc
Until it stops keep it in their face. From every direction.
Summer vacation is coming up, take your kids and picket republican offices with signs which say "Please Sir/Madam stop being racist", "Please put the citizenry of the country ahead of deals made in the basement of the library of congress", "Will you use my memorial to further 2nd amendment agendas too?
Participate and urge others to do so.
mopinko
(70,067 posts)so, it does and has looked familiar to him from day one. or day minus 450 or so, on a cold day in february.
he learned from the best. and the worst.