The Realities Underlying a Black Presidential Candidacy

Abstract

There are two sources of the recent attempt to mount a black presidential candidacy, both rooted in the Chicago mayoral election of Harold Washington, the first black mayor in that city's history. First, the Washington campaign illustrated that a black candidacy could bring formerly politically inactive people into the electoral process and could make politics take on a relevance and urgency for those who had previously seen little connection between elections and their own lives. It also showed that participation by people who usually opt out of the system could change election outcomes. Harold Washington's campaign induced many blacks to register for the first time and stimulated a very large black turnout that led to Washington's victory.