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FREEDOMWAYS                                        FOURTH QUARTER 1971

vent the crystallizing of black strength, united with other groups, in the '72 elections.
  Charles Evers' campaign for the governorship in Mississippi was an important development in the life of the black community in this nation, if for no other reason than it is another step in the reformation of political life in Mississippi, Mr. Evers received 148,000 votes on an independent ticket and 28 black citizens in Mississippi were elected to government posts. A mere six years ago, there were not 148,000 black people registered to vote in Mississippi, yet today that number is supporting a black candidate for the highest office in the state. It is politically naive and hypocritical to take lightly the charges made by Mr. Evers and others regarding intimidation and election fraud in certain counties which had to have its effect upon the overall outcome. The 28 black citizens who were elected represented only a fraction of the black citizens who ran for office in this election. This points up the need for more professional assistance to the campaigns at the local level all over the South, not only in Mississippi. It also points up the fact that many of the local white candidates were not seen as racists by the black community but were decent candidates who could win black votes. Even this is stage of development in the reformation of Mississippi politics, which in the long run means that a different quality of political candidate will begin to emerge in the white community.
  Mayor Richard Hatcher's resounding victory in being re-elected in Gary, Indiana, certainly testifies to the continued solidarity of the black vote. In the mayoral elections in Memphis, the black vote, in coalition with others, narrowly missed defeating the candidate of the Loeb-Chandler machine. Mayor Loeb was in office during the sanitation workers strike in 1968. It was stated policy that his administration "would not negotiate with a nigger union" that led to the strike, to Dr. Martin Luther King's involvement and his assassination. In the recent election, Mayor Loeb decided at the last minute not to run, but put up his hand picked candidate, Chandler. The black vote in Memphis was solidly against the candidate and the percentage of black voters turning out in this election was higher than in the white community, despite the fact that the opposition candidate was not a particularly outstanding one. If the electoral tactics pursued by the black candidate for mayor in Cleveland had been applied, instead, to Philadelphia and vice versa, it is possible that "law and order" candidates could have been defeated in both places. It is necessary to affirm that the black vote in the United States is both a racial and

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