
          Politics the Beloved Commune: Arkansas has the opportunity to
learn from the experiences of other Southern_states
          By Suitts, SteveSteve Suitts
          Vol. 12, No. 3, 1990, pp. 13-16
          
          THE YEAR 1990 may be remembered as a profound moment for Arkansas
politics. This is the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Voting
Rights Act, perhaps the most powerful instrument in the twentieth
century for fairness in the U.S. political process. And it is this
year that the voting_rights movement, already spread across most of
the Southern_states, has finally come home to Arkansas.
          Since January, the Voting_Rights_Act has fostered dramatic changes,
as the federal_courts have required the redistricting of the Arkansas
Legislature so black_voters would have the opportunity to elect
candidates of their choice in at least ten legislative
districts. Another federal_court order may create new districts from
which Arkansas state court judges will be elected more fairly and more
substantially with the votes of black citizens. In all likelihood,
this federal_court will enforce the Voting_Rights_Act and create as
many as fifteen judicial districts where black_voters can elect the
candidates of their choice.
          These two court cases represent sweeping changes. Yet, they are
only the beginning of a long journey in Arkansas from the politics of
mere participation to the politics of inclusion. The empowerment of
black_voters though the creation of effective majority black_districts
has only begun. Almost every week the federal_court dockets in
Arkansas show more lawsuits against school_boards, city councils, or
county governments with election schemes that dilute black votes. No
less dramatic will be the redistricting of the state's local
governments after the new Census data is available in
1991-1992. Recent projections by the Southern_Regional_Council suggest
that as many as eighty new majority-black_districts may be created
through redistricting of the county governments in Arkansas in the
1990s.
          All told, in this new decade, the number of officials elected by a
majority of black_voters could triple. Most of that growth will take
place in the Arkansas Delta. So long as the Voting_Rights_Act is the
law of the land, as it now stands, and so long as lawyers can find a
federal_courthouse, this trend is as certain and mighty as the
southward flow of the Mississippi.
          Arkansas will probably have the largest percentage of growth in the
number of black elected_officials of all Southern_states during the
1990s. Of course, Arkansas will lead this category mostly because so
much of this kind of change has already happened in other Southern
states and so little in Arkansas. Making up for lost time, the decade
of the 1990s may be the decade of unprecedented black political
empowerment in Arkansas.
          These changes, however, will not be easy and will not necessarily
deliver Arkansas to the political promised land. These changes will
not necessarily bring the politics of Martin_Luther_King's "beloved
community."
          But Arkansas can profit from the experiences of ocher Southern
states over the last two decades. Both black and white Arkansans can
learn from the trials and achievements of other Southern_states in
this process of change. Having come upon this historical moment later
than most of the region, Arkansas has an opportunity to make more of
the change than have some ocher Southern_states.
          As paradoxical as it may seem, as difficult as it may be, the
political change now under way in Arkansas for the benefit of black
voters will unite the white community more than it will unite the
black_community--at least in the short run. With the approaching
political opportunities for black leaders will come painful divisions
within the black_community.
          Make no mistake about it. Most of the white community and most of
the white leadership in Arkansas will be united in opposition to this
political change until the very last city council is redistricted and
the very last vote in new redistricting plans is counted. Regrettably,
opposition to change will become an article of faith in many parts of
the white community, such as the Delta. Even white leaders who have
been helpful to black communities in the past will oppose this
political change in silence or with great clamor.
          At the same time the transformation of politics will begin to
divide parts of the black_community and much of the black
leadership. This is a rather natural consequence of the political
process. With increased opportunities for political office will come
increased competition among black office seekers. Some blacks will
become candidates because they believe they are the best
representatives of their communities. Some will become candidates
because 

the local white leadership thinks that they will be the best
representatives of the black_community.
          In addition, black_voters will probably be more reluctant to vote
for black candidates than many black leaders expect. In many places,
black_voters will continue to feel themselves too vulnerable to white
incumbents and white leadership to break old patterns of voting. Lest
anyone forget, in the excitement of the moment, a century of white
control of thought and deed does not end with one redistricting
plan.
          Also, some black_voters will be underestimated by black office
seekers. While they are probably the least educated voting group in
the South, black_voters are also probably the most sophisticated
voters of our region. Unlike their white counterparts in many sections
of our region, black_voters often have an ability to look beyond
race. As a rule, they do not support black candidates only because
they are black. Where a white incumbent is, in fact, bringing home 

the
bacon, black_voters will often continue their support.
          Another challenge to Arkansas's black political leadership may be
even more ominous. Black political leaders and activists, especially
in places like the Delta, should expect to be put under the
microscope. In state after state in the South, the new politics has
been accompanied by attempts by white officials to identify the
weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of black leaders. At times these
efforts have been aimed to eliminate black empowerment and
entitlements to vote by eliminating black leadership from public
office.
          Recent Southern political history exhibits numerous black elected
officials and unelected activists who have become entangled in a
string of state and federal audits, local criminal investigations,
civil litigation, and federal investigations and indictments on issues
such as voting fraud, taxes, and malfeasance in office. Many of these
inquiries have been groundless, and some have been 

almost
conspiratorial. Federal indictments against voting activists in the
Alabama Black_Belt in the mid-1980s are a good example. Of course,
some investigations have been on target, and black jurors have helped
convict some black officials.
          In some instances, this scrutiny may represent a double standard,
but it is a standard that has to be lived with. Even where the
investigation of a black leader or activist was racially motivated,
the chances are that the accused will be convicted if he or she has
violated the law. In essence, the climate requires that black
politicians and activists who seek to take advantage of redistricting
opportunities must avoid even the proverbial appearance of impropriety
if they are to survive.
          Because political power is often intoxicating and campaigns are
often all-consuming, some leaders in the early days of this change may
forget the real limits of political power. While political
transformation, for example, is an essential part of what must change
in the lives of poor blacks and whites in the Delta of Arkansas, that
change alone will not transform poverty into prosperity. In the
beginning days of this change, black candidates will have a tendency
to promise too much and find themselves creating higher expectations
than they can fulfill. Also, many new candidates may not be prepared
to govern when elected. Simply because a candidate can campaign
effectively does not always mean that he or she knows how to govern
effectively.
          Those seeking these new political opportunities will be well
advised not to burn their bridges with those who hold economic power,
even those whites who will not support any efforts to empower black
communities in the politics of inclusion. People change; circumstances
change; and in those changes come the possibilities of new definitions
of self-interest. Common ground is necessary for the definition of
self-interest if economic power and political power can become one
force for moving communities out of poverty. In many cases, old
opponents will have to become new partners for this union of purpose
to take shape.
          Another troubling trend also has become evident in the voting
rights movement elsewhere in the region. There is a tendency for this
movement to become only a lawyers' battle. Because redistricting is
usually required by court order, litigating attorneys have a rightful,
pivotal role. But theirs should not be the primary or only
role. Arkansas must be careful not to allow the creation of majority
black_districts by a lawyer's writ to become a substitute for
political activism and efforts to increase voter_registration and
turnout. If new districts are to become new opportunities for the
black_community, the community or its political organizations must be
on the front lines of the redistricting process.
          Finally, the recent Southern experience is a vivid reminder that
efforts to empower black_voters through the creation of majority black
districts are the means, not the end, in the search for the politics
of inclusion. For the sake of both black and white Arkansans, no one
should be I allowed to forget that coalition politics is the ultimate
goal--the politics of inclusion, the politics of the beloved community
where the race of candidate or voter is irrelevant and where the needs
and concerns of all citizens are paramount. Distinguishing between the
means and the end is a political necessity no less than a political
virtue. Throughout this process leaders in the black_community must
remember that controlling ten seats in the state legislature will not
allow black_voters to pass legislation only through black legislators,
that controlling the Helena city council will not provide it with the
state resources to improve public_education, that controlling the
county government of St. Francis County won't necessarily provide the
jobs, training, and opportunities that poor citizens need.
          The political changes now underway are necessary to remove the
burdens of the political participation from black citizens, to move
the Delta and the state of Arkansas from merely allowing blacks to
participate in politics towards allowing blacks and whites to become
partners in using political power. Redistricting is only the means for
arriving et that ultimate good. Therefore, while promoting the
creation of majority black_districts, African-American leaders in
Arkansas must also promote the creation of coalitions that allow black
and white candidates to be elected by a majority of white votes as
well as black votes.
          Already, Arkansas and the South have come a long way in the journey
out of segregation. But there's a long way to go. Wouldn't it be a
rare and cherished gift if the 1990s proved to be the time when the
leadership of one Southern state learned from the mistakes and hazards
of racial politics elsewhere in the region and gave to its own
citizens a political future that includes all? Wouldn't it be a
remarkable legacy if Arkansas--so late in coming to the political
empowerment of black citizens--was the first to reveal the promised
land of politics, the politics of a beloved community?
          
            Steve Suitts is the executive director of the Southern
Regional Council. This article is excerpted from is May 1990 speech to
the Arkansas Political Exchange in West Memphis, Ark.
          
        
