This nitty-gritty, grass-roots conversation took place during anearly morning post-mortem on the mayoral election at Izola'sRestaurant on East 79th Street.
Hey, my man. My main man.
Hey, bruh. Ain't seen you since the election.
Yeah, I've been waiting for you, my man. You know why - you oweme one.
What you mean? Hal won didn't he? Just like I called it.
Ooooh no. Not exactly like you called it. You said that EdVrdolyak wouldn't quit and that Tom Hynes wouldn't either. And youalso bet me a dinner that Hal would wipe out both those guys. I meanwipe them out. Well, Hynes did quit and Hal didn't exactly wipe outVrdolyak. Vrdolyak is so happy that now he's thinking about runningfor governor or even against Richie Daley.
Bruh, why you bring up all that stuff? Hal won and he wonone-on-one against a white man who loud-mouthed the mayor more thananybody. What else you want? Don't be so negative.
I ain't being negative, man, but let's face it. You and me wasrunning scared right up to the last minute. Right up to when youheard Vrdolyak, himself, say he lost. You was so scared that you hadto hear it from that white man, over and over, on all four TVstations, just like he was the only one who could tell the truth.
So we both was scared for a while. And now it's over. So let'sgo right in this door and have a breakfast on you.
I'm with you, bruh. But I don't understand how Vrdolyak gotthat many votes (468,493), something over 41 percent, when thenewspaper polls kept saying he was so lo' down that he was worse offthan Hynes.
Looked bad, didn't it. I didn't know that many white folkscould dislike Hal. Vrdolyak! Man, they tried to tell us something.
But on the other hand, it wasn't as bad as it seemed. This timethey couldn't stir up enough race feelings to make white folks comeout in droves to vote against a black man. Do you know that blacksvoted in bigger numbers than whites - for the first time?
No, I don't, and you don't either. I just saw the figures.White folks were lower than usual, but they still outvoted us blacksslightly (75.08 percent to 74.73 percent). Man, what's wrong withblack folks?
We Negroes still got a long ways to go. But there's one thingI'm happy about. They didn't divide us like they tried to. I'mtalking about dudes like you and me, who ain't working steady andain't got a whole lot of education.
Yeah, that's what really scared me for a while, especially afterthat mess at the CHA. I figured a lot of black folks wouldn't botherto vote for nobody at all 'cause they would blame the mayor foreverything that went wrong over there. And I know some Negroes whoain't in CHA who talked as though Hal was supposed to hire everyblack dude in town when he beat Jane Byrne.
You know one thing, man, this election has been a good educationfor a lot of funny-sounding black folks.
And some white folks, too.
One thing wrong with black folks, who kept thinking that all thewhite folks would get together and vote against the mayor, is that wethink that only black folks can divide against each other.
You damned right, white folks and black folks are just alike.Everybody always asking why black folks don't always stick together,but white folks been fighting each other in wars and everything elsefor thousands of years. So why should we be surprised when Vrdolyak,Hynes and the rest of those guys fight over who's gonna control allthat clout?
You know one thing, white folks is overrated, even big-timewhite folks who supposed to have so much brains. The Japanese areproving all that to be wrong. They bombed Pearl Harbor and now theyowning Hawaii - little by little.
But black folks are also proving they also overrated by whitefolks. I can't understand why white folks think that every time ablack dude gets in charge of some big job that the whole black raceis 'bout to take over everything and wipe out everybody else. That'scrazy, man.
One thing, man, I'm glad that white folks can split with eachother some times just like we do. If they hadn't been split and theHispanics hadn't been split in that election, Harold Washingtonwouldn't be mayor today.
But hey, bruh, I got one better than that. If white folkshadn't got mad at each other and had a big war, you and me mightstill be slaves in Mississippi and Tennessee. And even back then,there were some good white folk on our side.
Bruh, you crazy, but it's the truth. It took the Civil War foryou and me to get free. Hoooooo! Strong stuff. Strong, but that'slife, man.
Vernon Jarrett's column appears on Page 7 Wednesday and in theCommentary section Friday and Sunday.
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