Outside the windows of the Truman College cafeteria, as a balmy breeze wafts through the trees, tennis players and softball swatters congregate, enjoying one of the gentler, more peaceful days of spring. But inside the stuffy cafeteria of the Uptown junior college, it’s all work for 200 or so north-side activists getting down to the serious political business of the day.
“What we are trying to do is combine the activist organizations that have been working up and down the lakefront since the Harold Washington campaign,” says Peyton, herself cochair of one such group, Network 44. “There are severe limitations to what any one group can do on its own. You can always play a larger role in citywide coalitions. Of course, it’s going to take a lot of leadership to put together a coalition in the aftermath of Cokely.”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Making their efforts more difficult is the fact that most leaders at the core of the lakefront movement–like the members of the audience at the conference–are white, and many are Jews, even though the area’s black, Hispanic, and Asian populations are growing. On top of that, the unofficial alliance of lakefront activists that helped elect Washington was fragile to begin with.
In 1987, Helen Shiller, a staunch Washington ally, defeated Orbach. And Hansen softened his opposition to Washington after the mayor took control of the City Council. But along the way, many battles were fought among lakefront Democrats, and many degenerated into silly conflicts over race and ethnicity.
Despite their differences, however, almost all lakefront Democrats recoiled from the depths of hatred Cokely expressed. Until then, they considered themselves an appreciated part of an ethnically and racially diverse citywide political movement. Many of them had earned their spurs working precincts in dozens of hotly contested south- and west-side aldermanic elections, long before the Washington campaign.
Frequently, questions were directed to Jacky Grimshaw, a key adviser to Washington. As the sole black on the panel, she found herself in the rather awkward and ultimately unfair position of representing the view of the black community. “Cokely reflects what is a real problem,” Grimshaw told the audience. “The reasons we have Cokely out there is because we have experienced problems of disinvestment in housing, education, and community development. Cokely called for inclusion in a racially hostile way that is not reflective of the black community.”
Other speakers pressed for unity, including Orr. In a keynote address, he likened the challenges facing today’s local politicians to those confronting abolitionists and civil rights leaders long ago. “Where would this nation be if John Brown had taken a public opinion poll before he challenged slavery?” he asked. “Where would we be if Martin Luther King had taken a poll before sitting down at a segregated lunch counter? Where is the courage and the moral leadership today? In leaders’ who do not dare to challenge anti-Semitism? In those who would make anti-Semitism on the part of a few blacks an excuse to whip up white racism? We, the progressives, must offer that leadership. Our progressive vision is as relevant and as desperately needed today as it ever has been. We must work to unite this city. And we must have the courage to say what we know is right.”
