Harold Washington
Harold Washington
Harold Lee Washingtonwas an American lawyer and politician elected as the 51st Mayor of Chicago in February 1983. He was the first African-American to serve as Mayor of Chicago, in office from April 29, 1983 until his death on November 25, 1987. Washington was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1983 representing the Illinois first district, and also previously served in the Illinois State Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives from 1965 until...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth15 April 1922
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Business as usual will not be accepted by this chief executive of this great city.
Business as usual will not be accepted by the people of this city.
I am not interested in splitting the white vote.
Our concern is to heal. Our concern is to bring together.
That fallacy flies in the face of studies that show, every day, in every way, things are getting a little worse for America's minorities relative to the progress made by those in the top percentiles of assets and income.
Throughout American history many of our social gains and much of our progress toward democracy were made possible by the active intervention of the federal government.
Our government will be moving forward as well, including more people and more kinds of people than any government in the history of Chicago.
Business as usual will not be accepted by any part of this city.
The third fallacy is that affirmative action doesn't work.
I have been urged by the earnest pleas of thousands of people to enter this race. Therefore, I hereby declare my candidacy for Mayor of Chicago.
Chicago has been characterized as the most segregated city in the United States, a city they said could never change.
I cannot watch the city of Chicago be destroyed by petty politics and bad government.
What is so remarkable about the success of affirmative action is that it has been accomplished despite the Justice Department and the policies of the federal government.
Affirmative action works but we're going to need to muster all our political resources if we are to keep it in place.