Danny Davis Opines On His Dropping Out

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 19, 2011 8:40PM

Congressman Danny Davis penned a sometimes rambling editorial for the Chicago Defender explaining the reasons why he put an end to his mayoral campaign. The editorial starts to get to the heart of the matter once he gets past reminding readers that he was the original choice for "consensus" Black candidate and getting down to what he called "class warfare" within Chicago's African American community.

"I have never been against Carol Mosley Braun and was not running against her, I was running for mayor, plus there were other people in the race.

"I also ran into Black people who thought there was a difference between people who lived on the Southside and Westside, some thought that because people had a job they were different than those who lived in apartments, or if you lived in one place, and someone else lived in another your class made you different."

In that quote, Davis revealed a candor about Chicago's African American community that is rarely addressed in media, be it local mainstream or even local African American media. These differences in class perception between South and West Side blacks that Davis referred to are very real and reflect the challenges Davis, Braun or James Meeks would have in trying to be a unifying voice for a crucial voting bloc.

We also wonder if, behind the scenes, Davis is having a chuckle at Braun's political self-immolation.