As part of a national trend, most Blacks shifted their allegiance to the Democratic Party, and in Detroit, they went a step further harnessing their newfound political clout into a “Black bourgeoisie” middle-class status. Young distanced himself from them because as he developed his leadership skills, he was never prepared to subordinate his beliefs in order to be accepted by Whites. This, coupled with the fact that Young did not have a college education, made him a radical in the eyes of the Detroit Black middle-class. He definitely was not “yacht club” material but his leadership activities in the union compensated for any perceived “ivy-league” shortcomings and shaped his budding political career.

Young’s slowly moved into elected politics as a campaign manager for a pastor who was running for city council. In 1948, he ran for state senate as a Progressive party candidate and lost. (This was part of the difficulties he encountered for his support of the Progressive party). He got divorced in 1954 and was remarried the following year to Nadine Baxter.

After his second marriage, Young faded from active politics but stayed in touch through his union involvement.

Four years later, he formally switched to the Democratic Party and in 1960, he was elected as a delegate to help draft a new Michigan constitution. In 1962, Young ran for the Michigan House of Representatives and lost by seven votes but received tremendous name recognition. When, in 1964, he ran again for the state senate, he won by a two-to-one margin. He quickly asserted his leadership skills as a state legislator and was elected minority floor leader. During his tenure in the senate in Lansing (Michigan’s capital), Young was instrumental in drafting laws that spoke to the needs, not only of his Detroit area constituency, but also to the general welfare of the working class and the “voiceless” including housing laws; the first Detroit income tax bill; state consumer protection laws; the Public Employees Relations Act and measures that impacted the decentralization of Detroit Schools and fair hiring practices in the Detroit Police Department.

He rose to become the vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee and after spending almost 10 years as a state legislator, Young declared his candidacy for the mayor of Detroit. He mounted a vigorous campaign and brought sterling credentials to the race as a former labor organizer, campaign manager and elected official. He knew the political landscape and that served him well: he glided to victory by a margin of about 7,000 votes to become the first Black mayor of Detroit in 1973. He was inaugurated in January 1974. (At the same time, Thomas Bradley and Maynard Jackson were being sworn in as first Black mayors of Los Angeles and Atlanta, respectively).

When Young took over, the city was in economic turmoil and it dragged on throughout his first four years. In addition to the economic crisis, he inherited labor/union problems over police lay-offs and residency rules; the threat of automobile plant closings and the possibility of civil unrest. There was a mass exodus of Whites moving to the suburbs that eroded the city’s tax base. This prompted his remark: “No other city in America, no other city in the Western world has lost the population at that rate. And what’s at the root of that loss? Economics and race, or should I say, race and economics.”

Last update: 07-03-2008 00:39

Published in : News, Legends

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