Fire on the prairie : Chicago's Harold Washington and the politics of race

480 Pages·1992·24.463 MB·English

by  Gary Rivlin

FPT $24.95
Chicago—the city whose name is syn-
onymous with urban politics; the city of
sharply divided ethnic and racial en-
claves; the city whose police force
shocked America during the 1968 Demo-
cratic convention and then the next year
killed Black Panther leader Fred Hamp-
ton. As Martin Luther King, Jr., said
when he traveled to Chicago in 1965 to
turn his attention to the great urban cen-
ters of the north, “If we crack Chicago,
then we crack the world.” Black em-
powerment “would take off like a prairie
fire across the land.” In 1983 Chicago
elected Harold Washington as the city’s
first black mayor.
This is the story of Washington’s im-
probable victory over Jane Byrne, heir to
the late Richard J. Daley’s political em-
pire, and over Daley’s eldest son. It’s the
story of a coalition outside the party’s
mainstream coming to power and ruling
in the country’s most political of cities. In
Fire on the Prairie, Gary Rivlin reveals
the personalities and philosophies of
those who were at the center of events,
from black separatists such as Lu Palmer
to community organizers such as Jesse
Jackson, and from white liberals who
held Washington at arm’s length to
Chicago originals like Ed Vrdolyak, the
opposition’s leader. At the center of the
drama was Harold Washington, an enig-
matic yet engaging figure who fashioned
(Continued on back flap)
0392
MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE _
uo MECIIANICS’. v0
MERCANTILE LIBRARY
Brnfih
re
vi
oih
R
»
,
(abi aie iBs yi
neoe >A
a}
.)
: a
_
J
2
\
+
“Shee
Wuus
A) ?
-. =
et
ss
; a a +
tet ;
a, i
mm 1) :
aay:
» "
Wo
pa7r w y
ve

FIRE
on the
iP RA UR GE

TURE
on the
PRAIRIE
——_@—_—
CHICAGO’S
WARIOLD WASHINGTON
Agi Del ae
PO1L) L s@*seeOrr: R.A CE
»
Gary Rivlin
Hiemry Holt and, Comp any New York
Copyright © 1992 by Gary Rivlin
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce
this book or portions thereof in any form.
Published by Henry Holt and Company, Inc.,
115 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011.
Published in Canada by Fitzhenry and Whiteside Limited,
91 Granton Drive, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 2N5.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rivlin, Gary.
Fire on the prairie : Chicago’s Harold Washington and the politics
of race / Gary Rivlin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Washington, Harold, 1922-1987. 2. Chicago (Ill.)—Politics and
government—1951— ; 3. Chicago (Ill.)—Race relations. I. Title.
F548.54.W36R58 1992
977.3'11043’092—dc20 91-38748
CIP
ISBN 0-8050-1468-3
Henry Holt books are available at special discounts
for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums,
fund-raising, or educational use. Special editions
or book excerpts can also be created to specification.
For details contact: Special Sales Director, Henry Holt and Company, Inc.,
115 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011.
First Edition—1992
Book design by Claire Naylon Vaccaro
Printed in the United States of America
Recognizing the importance of preserving
the written word, Henry Holt and Company, Inc.,
by policy, prints all of its first editions
on acid-free paper. ©
AE72 SDOES) 61 4: 2