Double Trouble: Black Mayors, Black Communities, and the Call for a Deep Democracy

J. Phillip Thompson III, an insider in the Dinkins administration, provides the first in-depth look at how the black mayors of America's major cities achieve social change. Black constituents naturally look to black mayors to effect great change for the poor, but the reality of the situation is complicated. Thompson argues that African-American mayors, legislators, and political activists need to more effectively challenge opinions and public policies supported by the white public and encourage greater political inclusion and open political discourse within black communities. Only by unveiling painful internal oppresssions and exclusions within black politics will the black community's power increase, and compel similar unveilings in the broader interracial conversation about the problems of the urban poor. Tracing the historical development and contemporary practice of black mayoral politics, this is a fascinating study of the motivations of black politicians, competing ideologies in the black community and the inner dynamics of urban social change.

About the Author

J. Phillip Thompson, III is Associate Professor of Urban Politics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked for a decade in New York City government, serving as Deputy General Manager of the New York Housing Authority and as Director of the Mayor's Office of Housing Coordination and principal mayoral liaison to the 1991 New York City Council Re-Districting Commission during the Dinkins administration.