Gale Warning

Race Matters

I outright stole the headline for this week’s column from a book I read a few years ago by noted Princeton professor Cornel West. In his book, West outlined the reasons why America remains a racially divided society, how our racial attitudes came to be and the future of race relations.

The reason I used his title, and remind me to apologize to Professor West later, was because it so clearly fit what I've been thinking about this past week. During the city's recent campaign for mayor, much had been written and discussed about the election's potential for racial divisiveness. There was the alleged Molotov cocktail incident, where a liquid-filled bottle crashed through the window of mayoral candidate Sam Katz's North Philly office in the middle of the night. While working on that story, I spoke to a number of local residents, and while most were outraged at the act of political intimidation, I was surprised to hear a few people express the opinion that Katz had no business opening an office in North Philly in the first place. Soon after, there was a similar deal in the Northeast, where Mayor Street opened a re-election satellite office. While there was no violence, apparently someone delivered cookies to the opening of the office, welcoming Street to the neighborhood. The mayor's people took offense at the implication that this was his first trip to the community. All summer long and into the fall, back and forth, the accusations and arrows flew. Indeed, pundits pondered, would we ever be able to heal the wounds and bridge the racial divide so obviously exacerbated by politics?

I myself used this space to ask that question during the campaign ["Race to the Finish," Oct. 9, 2003]. I spoke to Dr. Judith Goode, professor of anthropology and urban studies at Temple University, who told me that while many Philadelphians might feel like they were victims of racism, or at least race-based voting after the election, for the most part people would be able to see beyond the black-and-white, us-versus-them mentality and understand the complicated dynamic at work here. Blacks who vote for Katz have very legitimate reasons for doing so, she said then, and the Uncle Tom accusations wouldn't hold much water. Ditto for the white folks who voted for Street. While a few people might angrily accuse them of gleefully signing the city over to the "brothers and sisters," Goode predicted that Philadelphians, for the most part, are politically sophisticated enough to separate rhetoric from substance.

Now, I have to admit that during our conversation, I suspected Goode was being a bit too optimistic. While I certainly didn't think the election would result in a race war or even a race skirmish, I guess I just underestimated the sophistication of the Philadelphia voter.

The mayor, to his credit, predicted no racial fallout whatsoever as a result of his win. He did so at least twice in my presence in answer to direct questions on the effect the mayor's race would have on whatever degree of racial harmony we've been able to achieve. I was reminded of this last week, when our editorial board met with Mayor Street and his Cabinet.

Street again crowed about the lack of racial animosity surrounding the election, and reminded us that there hasn't been a significant racial incident in Philadelphia since he's been mayor. And George Burrell, the secretary of external affairs, added the complaint that no one in the media was willing to write about the fact that the doomsayers were dead wrong, and that racial harmony in Philadelphia, such as it is, hasn't suffered a deathblow.

Turns out, of course, that both the mayor and Goode were right. There haven't been any significant incidences of racial disharmony since Election Day, and it doesn't look like there are going to be any. And that, neighbors, could be the best news to come out of this election. I'd like to think that the fact that we're willing to let racial bygones be bygones is a credit to our growth as a city and our increasing level of sophistication. Maybe we've come to realize that we're all in the same overtaxed, underserved boat and that the only color politicians really care about is green. Maybe we've finally figured out that the things that unite us are far more important than the things that divide us.

Of course, I could be wrong again. Maybe we just didn't give a shit.

Daryl Gale’s weekly radio show, Dialogues, with co-hosts Rotan Lee and Bill Miller, is burning up the airwaves Fridays 7-10 a.m. on WURD (900 AM) in Philadelphia.

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