Election 2008: Speaking on progress and race, Mayor Michael Nutter sparks controversy

Larry Miller
Tribune Staff Writer

Back in December, newly elected Mayor Michael Nutter endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for president — a political move that drew a negative response in some quarters.
And while Nutter’s endorsement has elicited some questions as to why he chose Clinton, some recent comments made by him, specifically those published in Monday’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, has raised some heated responses.
The latest came during a Monday morning broadcast of “The Morning Show,” hosted by Bill Anderson and heard on WURD 900AM.
“There are no automatics in life that all Black people are going to support a single Black candidate in a race,” Nutter said in the report. “All Black folks don’t eat fried chicken or eat watermelon. When do we make some progress here?”
Callers to Anderson’s show, which addresses mostly African-American issues, were not pleased — to say the least.
The talk show host said in his opinion, the implication was that by supporting Clinton, African Americans are making progress.
“I read it in the papers,” he said. “The mayor had made a statement defending his support for Clinton, saying that all Black people don’t eat fried chicken or eat watermelon and I think the implication was that by supporting Clinton, we’re making progress. I don’t take issue with his right to support anyone he wants but that it’s progress to vote outside our race. We’ve been voting for white candidates consistently. Why is it that when a qualified Black candidate comes along, we have to vote for him simply because he’s Black? I think that’s what the mayor meant.”
The 2008 Democratic primaries have drawn considerable attention across the country — and it may appear to some readers, listeners or viewers, every day there’s coverage over what Barack Obama said, what Hillary Clinton said or what one of their supporters said or did.
Clinton already had the endorsement of former Philadelphia Mayor John Street when she picked up support from Nutter during a fundraiser in New York.
He said Clinton’s priorities “are the right priorities for Philadelphia” and hasn’t backed away from his endorsement.
At the same time, Clinton also received the endorsement of Gov. Ed Rendell.
“I think she is the best candidate to lead this country to a direction that is different than they way George Bush has been leading us,” Nutter said in a recent interview with Tribune reporters. “At the time I endorsed her back in December, I thought she matched up best with any potential Republican nominee and now that it’s John McCain, it’s pretty clear.”
Nutter could not be reached for comment by Tribune press time.
However, Doug Oliver, Nutter’s press secretary, said the mayor’s statements were meant to show that there’s a diversity of political opinion within the Black community that can’t be defined in broad strokes.
“I didn’t hear the discussion on the radio this morning and I wasn’t in the room during that portion of the interview,” he said. “But I think that essentially some people took issue with his support of Sen. Clinton and the crux of the story was about his endorsement of Clinton and is he getting negative feedback. His statement meant that when a white politician doesn’t endorse a white candidate, it doesn’t raise an eyebrow. Basically you can’t paint any community with a broad brush. The point is that within the Black community, like any community, there’s a diversity of opinions and I think people would agree with that.”
Next Monday, Nutter is scheduled to appear on the Colbert Report.
“I didn’t see people running up to Ted Kennedy, saying, ‘Are you getting any pressure from supporting Sen. Obama, any backlash?’ No one is asking the white elected officials if they are getting pressure for supporting the Black guy,” he said in an interview last week.
Nutter said if Clinton does not win the nomination, “then the next day I am going to be out there, trying to help Sen. Obama.”