Color Lines

"I have nothing personal against Alvin Brooks," Gordon says. "I've even prayed at some prayer vigils together. In this case, I just don't think he's the best man for the job. People are looking for some efficiency in city government because there's been a lot of waste. Because Mark Funkhouser is a numbers guy and he did find waste, people are going to come out and support him. That's how I see this election: It's about more efficiency, basic public services for the people."

Same thing goes for the 5900 block of Kensington, where activist Cynthia Canady lives. "We've had more African-American councilmen in the last eight years, and I've been living in my house 39 years, and I have not seen anything happen in my area," she says. "It has definitely gone from bad to worse. We still don't have sidewalks, curbs, housing. People have moved out. We have a lot of vacant lots that are blighted areas just good for dumping. It's like living in the boondocks of Missouri, where nobody cares." For mayor, she says, "I want the one that's going to fix up the area."

Maybe these people are a minority within a minority, falling outside the 80 percent to 90 percent of black voters Abouhalkah says will automatically go for Brooks. But failing to acknowledge their voices is just perpetuating old stereotypes. Like assuming black people will elect someone just because he's black.

Sometimes this town is really hard to live in. I don't like living in a segregated city. I don't like hearing minority contractors complaining that they can't get a piece of the construction boom. I don't like the fact that inner-city black kids slaughter themselves due to what can only be, at its core, a profound hopelessness. I don't like feeling an underlying racial tension.

And I keep thinking that if all of us were driving on smooth streets, maybe we wouldn't have to dream about living in a town that's better for everyone. Don't be fooled: This mayoral election has nothing to do with race.