a blast from the past White Fear of Black Mayors: Unjustified But Persistent

January 30, 1977

White Fear of Black Mayors:
Unjustified But Persistent

By Bryant Rollins

anhattan Borough President Percy Sutton mentioned race only once last week when he announced he was a candidate for mayor of New York City. But Mr. Sutton's color - he is black - clearly will be an important, perhaps the most important, issue in the campaign.

It has long been so for blacks seeking office in the United States. In 1967, Carl Stokes ran for mayor of Cleveland, having, he said, to ``prove their [whites] fears groundless.'' He also had to convince blacks to vote in large numbers by promising that he would be more sensitive to their concerns than his white adversary.