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Bill Johnson, a veteran Detroit public affairs commentator, isn't shocked to see "the red flag of race . . . featured in a city election."
Inevitably, he writes in a Detroit News guest column, Mike Duggan's candidacy means "a malevolent undercurrent runs through the Detroit mayoral campaign."
Originally, " political power and control of public institutions were advertised as a guarantor of black advancement," Bill Johnson writes. "The doors to economic power would magically swing open."
In Johnson's view, that risky current began flowing 40 years ago with Coleman A. Young's first of five election victories.
Young’s legitimacy was derived from the fact that he represented a large black population. Many were poor and suffering from a lack of employment, educational opportunities, inadequate housing and general hopelessness. Many viewed his election as the coming of the Messiah.
As Young took on the task of governing, most Detroiters had high expectations for their revered mayor. Expectations were raised that the afflictions of the ghetto would be addressed in an enlightened and humane manner. Political power and control of public institutions were advertised as a guarantor of black advancement. The doors to economic power would magically swing open.
Blacks exuded extraordinary pride in having one of their own elected. He was defended with such vigor that he became deified. Any attack on him was seen as an attack on all of us. . . .
Voters remained loyal even after realizing that Young’s electoral prowess was mostly symbolic. It didn’t translate into beneficial policies and programs.
After more than four decades of black Detroit mayors, there’s nothing in the public record to show that the high hopes embodied in their election to office were matched by exemplary performance in the public interest.
Johnson, a News editorial writer from 1987-2002 and former chief operating officer at the Wayne County Commission, sees "Mike Duggan's impressive showing in the August primary" as a sign that voters "reject the notion that the promise of Detroit rests with uncompromising allegiance to black politicians."
While stressing that he's not endorsing Duggan or Benny Napoleon. the essay firmly embraces that race-neutral approach:
Detroit won’t be the Phoenix rising from the ashes until the model for the new breed of results-oriented city leadership is based on something other than Black Nationalism.
His message contrasts dramatically with opinions posted regularly in The Michigan Citizen, a 35-year-old Detroit weekly newspaper using the slogan Subscribe to The Truth!. "Detroit Raw" columnist Sam Riddle, for example, writes Thursday that the governor's "EM Negro proxy appears to be cracking a bit under community pressure" and that recently departed aide Jim Bonsall had been "cracking the plantation whip."
Less than three weeks before Election Day, Johnson and Riddle suggest dramatically different routes for Detroit voters.
