Washington Comes to Boston to Back King

It was an impressive display of the new found Black political muscle.

Harold Washington, still revelling in his election as Chicago's first Black mayor swept through Boston Sunday in an effort to bolster minority voter registration and propel Black mayoral candidate Melvin H. King into City Hall this fall.

In a day jampacked with meetings with local Black political and religious leaders, a rally two fundraisers and a courtesy call on Boston Mayor Kevin H. White, Washington sounded his message that area Blacks can take political power if they register and vote.

Democrat Washington, who narrowly defeated Republican Bernard Epton in April in a contest marred by violence and charges of racism called his victory part of a "continuum" of increasing Black control in America's cities.

"Now it has come to Boston," Washington told a cheering crowd of more than 1500 at an outdoor rally in the Grove Hall part of Dorchester. "The only thing Mel is asking is: Are you ready? Don't break the chain."

Throughout the day, Washington repeated that working in the system is the only way to affect the political balance both in the cities and nationally.

"We are in a pivotal stage in the history of this country." Washington said at Grove Hall. "We can win if you register and vote. We're going about it honestly."

Included in the day's activities was a half-hour stopover at the Harvard Club for a sparsely attended fundraiser aimed at raising money for Operation Big Vote, a national registration drive. The event was sponsored by the Seymour Society a campus Black organization that is involved in the effort this summer.

In a short speech, Washington said that it is essential to involve "the little people" in the political process, and urged the crowd of Seymour Society members and King supporters to use any means possible to register Blacks.

White and Black

Though the Washington visit was clearly meant to boost King's campaign the Chicago mayor often was more in the spotlight than the Boston candidate whom polls put in second place along with City Councilor Raymond I. Flynn Former School Committee Chairman and WBZ radio talk show host David I. Finnegan is considered the frontrunner.

Arriving at Logan Airport at 1 p.m. with his aides and popular Black humorist and political activist Dick Gregory. Washington was sped by limousine and police escort to White's residence on Beacon St. for what Washington would only say was a courtesy call.

After meeting privately for about 10 minutes the departing machine politician and the newcomer reformist mugged for press and television cameras.

White who entered City Hall in 1968 on reformist platform before setting up a political patronage system patterned after the machine of late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, stressed common points between the two cities, citing "the natural tug for power between the Mayor and the City Council a tension that has been a concern of both mayors.

Though the irony of the meeting between two politicians on the opposite sides of the political spectrum could not have escaped either's notice. White and Washington did not explicitly mention the problems of racism and the entrenched political machine White is upholding and Washington is trying to destroy.

We re running a reform government and that means we'll have controversy," Washington told the small gathering of reporters and photographers.

"I've always said that in controversy there was creative tension" White added.

From Parkman House, the motorcade proceeded to the Harvard Club and then to two private meetings in Roxbury, a predominantly poor Black neighborhood.

At the Skycap Lounge, a nightclub in the heart of Roxbury. Washington told a small crowd of Black businessmen that they were essential to a successful assault on the mayoralty.

"The Black business community came out en masse." Washington said reffering to his own campaign, which was largely funded by Black businesses. "It was the seed money of the campaign," he added.

Pulpit Politics

From business, Washington and King moved on to religion meeting with an interracial and ecumenical group of Boston religious leader at the St. Mark's Church, where King garnered the blessings of 70 members of the Hub clergy.

At a closed-to-the-public service in the Roxbury church, a succession of Black and white religious leaders took to the pulpit to back the political candidate.

Rev. William E. Alberts, minister of the Community Church in Boston, explained the crossing of religion and politics by saying: "You can't keep religion out of politics unless you divorce religion from life. It's the politics of religion that keeps religion out of politics."

After a succession of religious endorsements, King and Washington entered the chapel to the strains of "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" and took their campaign to the clergy.

King called Washington--who once was once convicted on charges of tax evasion--"unquestionably an inspiration to the people of Chicago, to the people of the U.S., to the people of the world," and Washington responded by repeating a theme he had stressed all day.

"This movement is natural," Washington said, "It's nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be ashamed about. It's inevitable, it's manifest, there's a historical imperative."

Following the service, at a press conference in the church basement, the church group and Washington officially announced their endorsement of King.

King, wearing a red bow tie and a suit--a marked contrast from the robes he donned at the start of the campaign--accepted the endorsements with a prepared speech, largely bereft of political proposals.

King, who has been working to modify an image which many see as too radical, drew parallels between his campaign and Washington's victory.

"Where does Boston stand in relation to these dramatic steps?" King asked, referring to Washington's attempts to fight the political machine built up over several decades by Daley and nurtured by Chicago's last mayor, Jane E. Byrne.

"Is our city ready for changes like there? I say. "Yes'" he added.

At the conference. King and Washington both downplayed the issue of race and distanced themselves from the radicalism that marked one strain of Black political movements in the '60s.

"Mcl King is not interested in turning the tables on the white community," Washington said, adding that it is essential that the struggle for power be conducted through the "legitimate political process."

The Washington-King entourage then moved several blocks south to join the Grove Hall rally, which had been steadily gaining strength throughout the afternoon.

Bald is Beautiful

The crowd, which grew to more than 1500 through the course of the afternoon, including many whites, as well as a smattering of socialist and communist workers. The rally, which took on a carnival atmosphere, featured many colorful Mel King balloons, as well as dozens of banners proclaiming everything from "Gays and Lesbians for Mel King" to "Bald is Beautiful--Vote for Mel King."

Disco music blared from the speakers and a gospel group called Silver Linings performed for the crowd.

Lee Farris, who volunteered to work for King for the day, said she thought the mix the size of the crowd would make people" stop saying that Mel King can't win."

Neighborhood residents at the rally agreed that political awareness is low in Roxbury and Black areas of Dorchester, and that the Washington visit would stir up support for the local candidate, King.

King and Washington's arrival was greeted with raucous chants of "Mel King Mel King and prompted the most demonstrative reaction by King of the day. Smiling broadly. King and Washington raised their hands together in a victory salute before the partisan crowd in King's home base.

Washington was preceded by Gregory, who joked about the Chicago mayor's former tax problems and then proceeded to criticize President Reagan, who, he said, was so bad that "even whites are suffering."

"Things is bad for white folks," Gregory joked. "I was walking in the park in New York City and I saw two pigeons feeding two old white folk.

Gregory then vowed. "We are going to change the complexion of America."

The most emotional address at the rally came from City Councilor Bruce Bolling, who introduced Washington by saying that he had "sent a message across the country that Black folks are going to stand up and take what's theirs."

"Harold Washington has white folk scared around the country." Bolling added to shouts from the audience. "There's no reason white folks should be scared of us."

King, who appeared visibly moved by the most vocal support he has received so far in this campaign, termed the rally "an incredibly beautiful sight," before calling for an end to racism and stating his support for affirmative action and Boston Jobs for Boston People, a program that would require contractors hired by Boston to employ a certain number of local residents.

From Grove Hall it was on to the last stop a King fundraiser at the nightspot Satch's in the Back Bay, where the mayor and the candidate exchanged platitudes for the last time before Washington returned to the Windy City.

Impact

While Washington's whirlwind six-hour tour of Boston garnered much publicity its eventual impact remains unclear.

If the goal was voter registration, then the visit can be called a qualified success. According to Operation Big Vote Project Coordinator Jean Ewing, a little more than 300 people were signed on Sunday afternoon. But yesterday, even without the mayor's help, the group collected more than 200 names at Dudley Station in Roxbury, Ewing said.

About 18,000 voters have been registered through Big Vote since January. Ewing said, adding that the group's goal is between 15,000 and 25,000 registrants by the preliminary election--which may or may not happen in September, depending on whether the City Council can redraw outlawed district lines in time.

The visit, however, was definitely the biggest event in an otherwise dull mayor's race and the endorsement ranks among the most important garnered so far.

But some of King's opponents yesterday called the visit inconsequential, saying it would have little impact on the race. Candidate Robert R. Kiley said the endorsement and visit would have a "marginal" effect on the race because. Washington's visit was so short.

Frank Costello, a spokesman for candidate Raymond I. Flynn, pointed out that King and Washington had never met before and that the Chicago mayor may have endorsed King only on "ethnic grounds."

And Mark Johnson, a spokesman for candidate Lawrence S. DiCara '71, said that King will not be as successful as Washington because he is "more of a protest leader, more of an ideologue. We don't expect Mel King to do much better than half [of the Black vote]."

But, according to King spokesman Marsha Waters, the visit was a "shot in the arm" for the campaign, which, she said, has already gained a great deal of momentum.

With seven weeks to go until the preliminary elections--if they run on time--King still trails poll leader Finnegan, who finished behind King in the 1979 preliminary and is neck-and-neck with Flynn, who may take away a substantial portion of the Black vote from King.

In order to make it to the two-man runoff, King may need to tap into the national Black political scene more often if he wants to convince local voters that he is more than just another angry ideologue.

Jacob M. Schlesinger contributed to this report.HAROLD WASHINGTON