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Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race ReviewFIRE ON THE PRAIRE is a good example of why the American reading public's narrow focus on national politics is so unfortunate. There are thousands of political stories in the cities, counties and states of America that are never told because the presumed target audience is too small. Thankfully, Gary Rivlin decided to tell the story of Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor.The book will appeal to anyone interested in politics, even if Chicago is of no particular interest. City-level politics is politics at its most raw. This story, set in the 1980's, features (literally) brawling aldermen, overtly race-based electoral appeals, bribery, graft and other interesting forms of corruption, and the more creative bad-mouthing that we'll likely ever hear on the national stage. The cast of characters - real political figures - read like they walked out of central casting. The impervious, heroic Mayor Washington, the nefarious but canny Ed Vrdolyak, the bumbling Jane Byrne, the barbaric Ed Burke, the big-talking con man Clarence McClaine, the ego-maniacal Jesse Jackson and on and on.
An unusual feature of this book is that while Washington is the central character, the book is almost not about him so much as Chicago politics in the 1980s. A third of the book devotees equal time to Washington and his arch-nemesis, Vrdolyak. Indeed, the Vrdolyak is painted with greater depth and may actually be quoted more than Washington. Washington comes off as pretty much impervious to corruption, pettiness, and most of the regular dynamics of Chicago politics - but he also comes off as inaccessible. The book plunges immediately into the political story without the customary 80 pages devoted to the central subject's early life. Rivlin never writes, "Washington thought..." nor does he report on conversations that occurred between two people, neither of whom subsequently spoke with Rivlin. The overall effect is double-edged - the story comes off as more credible but also Washington himself is left as something of a mystery.
A more serious problem with the book is that its fascinating emphasis on pure politics comes at the neglect of an in-depth exploration of Washington's policies. Policies are certainly mentioned, but I retained more about how Washington made a difference in the life of his city from an hour-long radio show on him that from this 420-page book.
The absence might be explained by what Rivlin explains is the difference between "white reform" and "black reform." Rivlin basically explains that white reformers are more concerned with process, where as black reformers are more concerned with results. White reformers may decry cronyism and call for the elimination of patronage jobs. Black reformers call for a more proportional share of the jobs. FIRE ON THE PRAIRE is written with a greater sympathy for what Rivlin would characterize as the black style of reform. The overarching point of the book was that Chicago's racial divisions were so great that residents (especially white residents) voted with their ethnicity against all considerations including logic and self-interest.
Washington's second term was cut tragically short by his untimely death.Rivlin does a great job of creating the sense of unfinished business as he continues the story of Chicago's political turmoil for 20 pages after Washington's death, until a new, interim mayor was elected. At that point I wanted to keep reading, but I also wanted to know what Washington was going to do next. Unfortunately we'll never know.Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race Overview
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