The worst thing for people with our viewpoint to do is to act on an ad hoc basis, to merely respond to crises or opportunities, without having some plan, without being mindful of the strategic goals of the period and fitting one’s activities into that plan and subordinating one’s activities to those strategic goals.
One may easily stay in close touch with the thinking of various strata of the community and their City as a whole, and that is good. Once again, one must remember to draw a line between taking the state of political thinking into account and accommodating oneself to that state, the latter being a recipe for opportunism. One can not stress enough the importance of building a strong foundation.
Winning is not what is important at this juncture. What is important is to educate people as to the possibilities of a new type of politics, to find a means of practical demonstration, but with results that do not demoralize people because the results are so negligible. And an election campaign should be a means of getting people involved after the campaign in grassroots or labor activism.
I am familiar with the argument that it is better to have a progressive white man run since whites and particularly white man will not vote for an African-American even though that African-American clearly expresses their interests. I remember Mel King at an NCIPA meeting suggesting that what this country needed was a white Jesse Jackson, and I replied to him that this country does not need a Great White Hope, whether in the ring or the political arena. The point is that if whites are not prepared to follow African-American leadership and never will be prepared, then there is no point in expecting anything serious to emerge in this country’s political future. That is the dialectics of the matter. There is not going to be a radical, a socialist, movement in this country that does not at the same time shed its racism as it develops.
Of course, I am not saying that we should not put forward progressive whites for office–but I am still thinking in the “foundations” stage, and given the infant stage of our movement, the need to make sure that whatever efforts we invest, that it be for maximum political gain.
