Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 24, 1990 TAG: 9004230192
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
While prominent columnists and politicians - many of them white - are singing hosannas to Virginia's history-making governor, a cross-section of the black intellectuals attending that conclave were ambivalent and in some cases dismayed by the conservative, color-neutral bent that has characterized Wilder's early days in office.
In papers and discussion sessions, professors from Georgia Tech to San Francisco State, from Howard University to Southern Cal, as well as closer-to-home spots like Old Dominion University, questioned whether the "Wilder model" is the path to which black politicians and their constituents should aspire.
"I don't see Wilder bringing to the public agenda the concerns of African-Americans. And if he doesn't bring certain positions to the table, then who will?" asked Dr. Charles Jones, director of the Institute for the Study of Minority Issues at ODU, and the co-author of a paper on Wilder's election that was presented at the conference.
"If he doesn't," adds Jones, "then let's not interpret this election as black political advancement."
A sampling of political scientists who attended the conference uncovers similar - and in some cases even more outspoken - concern:
"I interpret the election of Wilder in particular as representing not a growth in black politics, but a degeneration in black political development," said Robert Smith, professor of political science at San Francisco State. Smith presented a paper focusing in part on Wilder's election and entitled, "The Death of Black Politics?"
"The concern is that when one juxtaposes Wilder's success against the continuing plight of the black underclass, one has to raise questions," said Georgia Persons, a political scientist at Georgia Tech. "There hasn't been enough done yet in the minds of many people for black politicians to have abandoned the cause of the black community."
"If we give in to Doug Wilder, then we have given in almost totally to investing our hopes and dreams in bureaucratic outcomes," said Ron Walters, professor of political science at Howard and the keynote speaker for the Atlanta conference.
Such remarks are evidence that there is a price to pay, after all, for the fiscal conservatism and up-by-the-bootstraps rhetoric that of late have won Wilder praise from conservative columnists and the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.
Successful politicians expand their bases, but it is risky business to flirt with abandoning the base from which they arose. Conventional wisdom says that politicians such as Wilder walk a tightrope between black constituencies and white majorities. But to the Atlanta conferees, at least, the only dispute is over whether Wilder has tilted or fallen to the right.
Those who defended Wilder at the conference, most prominently Alvin Schexnider, associate vice president for academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Wilder appointee to the state Board of Education, argue that pragmatism dictates a color-free approach to politics in a state with the racial and philosophical makeup of Virginia. About 19 percent of the state's population is black.
But, even while conceding that Wilder might never have been elected had he not distanced himself from "black" issues and symbols during the campaign, his new academic critics say Wilder has gone beyond necessity in holding to those tactics as governor.
Concern about what is alternately described as "the new black crossover politics," "deracialization," and (Wilder's phrase) "the New Mainstream," is not focused exclusively on Wilder. But he is the most prominent example of an emerging brand of black politics that has prompted wide discussion in the wake of the 1989 elections and was summed up last week in a USA Today headline: "`The New Mainstream' - Black politicians stress character, not color."
Walters of Howard University describes the brand of black politics prominent in America since the civil rights movement as one that focuses on issues of poverty and justice, challenges political institutions, and expects that change will not come without such prodding.
In contrast, the "new" black politics is non-confrontational, works within the system and focuses on "crosscutting" issues such as transportation or abortion.
Generally, the complaints of black political scientists about Wilder and the approach he represents fit into three categories.
Primarily, there is worry that the poor will be abandoned if black politicians do not carry their banner. "If taking color out of politics means becoming conservative, and the interest of black people does not require conservatism, then it becomes like winning the world, but losing your soul," said Smith of San Francisco State.
Second, there is fear that Wilder is playing into the hands of white Democrats by undercutting Jesse Jackson. While each of the academicians interviewed expressed reservations about the "Jackson model" of black politics, none thought friction between the two men, or a highly-publicized usurping of Jackson by Wilder, served the interests of black people.
"The thing I quarrel with is that if he lends himself to this notion of getting Jesse out of the way, it's really not good for blacks," said Walters, a deputy campaign manager for Jackson in his 1984 race for president and a consultant in 1988.
Third, critics who have followed Wilder's day-to-day activities in office said they are disappointed by his stands on a series of issues: highlighting fiscal conservatism in the 1990 legislative session, remaining neutral on whether the Virginia Military Institute should admit women, and opposing creation of a majority-black congressional district in Virginia, among them. Even the removal of the sales tax on non-prescription drugs, touted by Wilder, is viewed by some as a token gesture.
The question, said Jones of ODU, is whether "deracialization" is a campaign tactic or a goal for Wilder. While Jones said he hopes the pattern will change, "a couple of things he's done lead me to believe it's more an individual climbing the ladder than what's in the best interests of the black community."
There is less consensus among black academics about whether Wilder's course is the smart way to wind up on a presidential ticket.
Michael B. Preston, chairman of the political science department at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, argues it is not. Color-blind politics works best for black politicians running for mayor or governor of majority-white cities and states, he thinks, not for blacks running for president or vice president.
Unless Wilder does something to appease liberals, he would never have a strong enough base of black support nationally to be considered for a presidential ticket, Preston believes.
Others think that the symbolism of a Wilder candidacy would be hard for blacks to reject.
Even so, said Persons of Georgia Tech, "We need to understand clearly what we feel pride in. He has reached a level of success as an individual which is exemplary. But to hold him up and say, this is the strategy blacks should be pursuing, I would disagree."
No single politician can erase injustice or eliminate poverty, but black academicians know of one they would like to see at least try.
by CNB