This article examines the mayoralty of Wellington Webb, 1991 to 2003, the first black mayor of Denver, Colorado, as a case study for testing the idea that “deracialization” produces benefits for the black community. Deracialization is essentially a political current within neoliberalism that argues black leaders should deemphasize race in favor of certain political styles and symbols. Upon examining Mayor Webb’s administrations—from the perspective of community development—municipal employment, public schools, police accountability, and affordable housing are found to have worsened, or reflected ambiguous change, for Denver’s poor and working-class neighborhoods. Supported with social and economic data, as well as interviews with community activists, the study concludes that race remains a significant issue for understanding how community development is pursued in black neighborhoods in some cities.
Alkalimat, A. , and D. Gills . 1984. Chicago: Black power vs. racism: Harold Washington becomes mayor. In The new Black vote: Politics and power in four American cities, edited by R. Bush , 53-179. San Francisco: Synthesis Publications .
2.
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now . 2001. Quality education for the few: A report on the state of elementary schools in Denver. Denver, CO: Author .
3.
Bayor, R. H.1996. Race and the shaping of twentieth century Atlanta. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press .
4.
Blake, R. R.1973/1974. Denver 3, suburbs O . Capital Ledger2: 11 .
5.
Bositis, D. A.2002. Black elected officials: A statistical summary 2000. Washington, DC: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies .
6.
Briggs, B.2002. Webb takes on detractors who say he ignores his roots. Denver Post, August 25.
7.
Career Service Authority . 1980-2000. Affirmative action [reports]. Denver, CO: Author .
8.
Career Service Authority . 2001. Employee diversity profile, September 2001. Denver, CO: Author .
9.
Chambliss, W.1995. Crime control and ethnic minorities: Legitimizing racial oppression by creating moral panics. In Ethnicity, race, and crime, edited by D. F. Hawkins , 235-258. Albany: State University of New York Press .
10.
City and County of Denver . 1991. Mayor’s budget 1991. Denver, CO: Author .
11.
Colorado Office of Economic Development . 2001. Colorado data book 2000. Denver, CO: Author .
12.
DeMott, B.1995. The trouble with friendship. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press .
13.
Denver Post. Congratulations, Rod Juniel. 2001. Editorial. March 23.
14.
Dorfman, L. , and V. Schiraldi . 2001. Off balance: Youth, race, and crime in the news. Washington, DC: Building Blocks for Youth .
15.
George, H., Jr. 1980. Institutional racism: A case study in urban politics . Paper presented at the fourth annual National Council for Black Studies conference, Milwaukee, WI.
16.
George, S. 1999. A short history of neo-liberalism . Paper presented at Conference on Economic Sovereignty in a Globalising World, Bangkok, Thailand.
17.
Goodstein, P.2000. Denver in our time. Vol. 2. Denver, CO: New Social Publications .
18.
Gray, M. , E. Golob , A. Markusen , and S. O. Park . 2002. New industrial cities? The four faces of Silicon Valley. In Readings in urban theory, 2nd ed., edited by S. Fainstein and S. Campbell . Malden, MA: Blackwell .
19.
Hendrie, C.1996. Black activists’ afro-centric agenda shakes Denver schools. Education Week on the Web, http://www.edweek.org/ (accessed December 20, 2001).
20.
Jennings, J.1984. Boston: Blacks and progressive politics. In The new Black vote, edited by R. Bush . San Francisco: Synthesis Publications .
21.
Karnig, A. K. , and S. Welch . 1980. Black representation and urban policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press .
22.
Kreck, C.2001. Police, citizens clash on profiling. Cops: Racial charge a matter of perception. Denver Post, January 15.
23.
Kreck, C.2002a. Health study: Minorities fare poorly. Denver Post, March 15.
24.
Kreck, C.2002b. Homeless problem outpaces shelter. Report: Most worrisome trend is that families make up majority. Denver Post, February 26.
25.
Lopez, C.1993. Gangs by the numbers: List brands 2 of 3 young black men. Denver Post, December 5.
26.
Lopez, C.1994. City lops 3,747 off gang list. Denver Post, January 20.
27.
Mauck, L.2001. Five points neighborhood of Denver. Chicago: Arcadia .
28.
McBean, B.1994. ACLU threatens Denver with suit over its gang list. Denver Post, January 21.
29.
McCormack, J. , and C. Jones . 1993. The conceptualization of deracialization. In Dilemmas of black politics, edited by G. Persons . New York: HarperCollins .
30.
Nelson, W. , and P. Meranto . 1977. Electing black mayors. Columbus: Ohio State University Press .
31.
Noble, A. , and M. Rodney . 2001. Education policy brief: Neighborhood schools. Wilmington: College of Human Services, Education, and Public Policy, University of Delaware .
32.
Orfield, G. , and S. Eaton . 1996. Dismantling desegregation. New York: New Press .
33.
Sassen, S.2002. Cities in a world economy. In Reading in urban theory, 2nd ed., edited by S. Fainstein and S. Campbell . Malden, MA: Blackwell .
34.
Thompson, C.1999. Wellington E. Webb. In Current biography yearbook, edited by C. Thompson . New York: H. W. Wilson .
35.
Tucker, C.2002. Two black Americas grow more apart. Denver Post, January 22.
36.
Tucker, D.1995. To make a mayor. Lanham, MD: University Press of America .
37.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 1950. Characteristics of the population: Colorado. 1950 census of the population. Vol. 2. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
38.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 1960. Characteristics of the population: Colorado. 1960 census of the population. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
39.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 1970. Characteristics of the population: General social and economic characteristics: Colorado. 1970 census of the population. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
40.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 1975. Historical statistics of the United States, colonial times to 1970. Bicentennial ed., part I. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
41.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 1980. Characteristics of the population: General social and economic characteristics: Colorado. 1980 census of the population. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
42.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 1990. General social and economic characteristics: Colorado. 1990 census of the population. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
43.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 2000. General social and economic characteristics: Colorado. 2000 census of the population. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
44.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 2001. 2001 poverty in the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
45.
U.S. Bureau of the Census . 2002. Social and economic characteristics: Colorado. 2002 census of the population. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office .
46.
Walsh, M.1998. Bilingual education has replaced busingas Denver’s hottest school issue. Education Week on the Web, Quality Counts’ 98: Colorado Summary, 1, http://www.edweek.org/ (accessed August 8, 2002).
47.
Quoted in J. McCormack II and C. Jones , The conceptualization of deracialization. In Dilemmas of Black politics, edited by G. Persons , 79. New York: HarperCollins .
48.
Webb, W.2002. Quotedin F. Siegel, The death and life of America’s cities . The Public Interest, 148(Summer), http://www.thepublicinterest.com/ (accessed August 18, 2002).
49.
Whaley, M. , and E. Hubler . 2002. 3rd graders show gains on CSAP: Minorities, seven schools still lag, but progress made. Denver Post, May 3.
