More on Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton's hour-long appearance on AM 990's Thaddeus Matthews Show.
Matthews came at Wharton aggressively on the issue of whether Wharton is vigorous enough in addressing the concerns of black Memphians, and expressed concern that Wharton might not stand up to "good ol' boys networks."
Matthews put it this way: "White folks done run this city and this county all these years. Any Negro the white folks think is great and clap their hands, I have to wonder about him."
Wharton responded to that by mentioning a series of hirings and appointments: "I don't call these people good ol' boys," Wharton said.
"Is it important to you as a black man that blacks stay in control of the mayor's office?" Matthews asked.
"I think there have been great sacrifices," Wharton responded. "I do feel that as far as the folks who died, marched, picketed, demonstrated to get to that, that is a factor that is worthy of keeping it as a positive. That doesn't mean that somebody is against a white person but this is something that's been fought for."
Matthews also used the "N" word in Wharton's presence, referring to Memphis City Council chair and future mayor pro tem Myron Lowery with that and other very derogatory terms. Wharton did not object to the language or disparagement directed at Lowery.
Matthews asked if Wharton was concerned that too many black candidates "might cut up that black pie five or six different ways."
"Maybe we need, we used to have runoffs but that was declared unconstitutional but the racial makeup of the vote was different at that time," Wharton said. "That could be unfortunate for the city of Memphis. Regardless of whether the winner is black or white, when you have people being elected to lead a city of 600,000-plus people with just a handful of votes, that doesn't say much. That prospect does bother me. It's not a matter of whether it is a white person or a black person."
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