Black Political Power:
Elected Into a System Built to Constrain Them

Maynard Jackson's first term in Atlanta (1973–78) was defined by his insistence that Black businesses receive their fair share of city contracts — specifically the construction contracts for the new Hartsfield International Airport. White business interests sued. The city council resisted. Jackson held firm: no contracts without minority participation. By the time the airport opened, Atlanta had the most advanced minority business enterprise program in the country. Black business formation in Atlanta accelerated. The model was replicated in cities nationwide. Jackson was accused of reverse discrimination. He was using the same contracting power that had been used exclusively for white businesses for decades.

Harold Washington was elected mayor of Chicago in 1983 against the opposition of the white Democratic machine. His four years were defined by "Council Wars" — white aldermen organized by Ald. Ed Vrdolyak blocked virtually every Washington initiative in the city council for his first two years. Washington was not obstructed because he was ineffective. He was obstructed because he was effective, and effective Black political leadership in Chicago threatened the machine that had controlled city resources for generations. He won a second term in 1987 and died of a heart attack seven months later. The machine promptly reasserted control.

Barack Obama's election as the 44th President was described as proof that America had transcended race — a 'post-racial' moment that conservatives and some liberals used to argue that structural racism was no longer operative. Obama's presidency proceeded to demonstrate the opposite: he faced obstruction that historians and political scientists have documented was qualitatively different from that faced by white presidents; the 'birther' movement questioned the legitimacy of his citizenship on racial grounds; congressional Republicans stated explicitly that their primary goal was to ensure his failure; and his measured public response to racial violence (Trayvon Martin: "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon") produced national controversy that similar statements from white presidents never would have.

Obama's presidency produced the lowest Black unemployment in recorded history before 2019 and the Affordable Care Act, which reduced the uninsured rate among Black Americans by 10 percentage points. It also produced the election of Donald Trump, partly on a backlash to Black political power at its most visible. The election of a Black president did not signal the end of racism. It catalyzed it.