Posted By: Michael Sweeney May 7, 2009
Chicago is down another legendary progressive voice with the passing this week of former Alderman – and all-around spur under the saddle of both Mayor Daleys – Leon M. Despres.
The Hyde Parker served in the City Council from 1955 to 1975…and he was often the singular vote opposing Da Mare’s edicts in multiple 49-1 Council votes. His very strong advocacy of civil rights and open housing in the oh-so-segregated Chicago of that era earned Despres the belittling nickname among pols as "the lone Negro on the City Council," even though – of course – he was white (and Jewish)…AND that the Council actually had six black Alderman at the time…who were all (pretty silently and obediently) allied with Mayor Daley.
Not only was Despres from the same city neighborhood – deeply mixed among races and socio-economic spreads, as the home of the University of Chicago and mere blocks from the edges of the traditional South Side "Black Belt" – that provided the local starting point and longtime home of Barack Obama…but, he also had been long looking forward to such a progressive achievement as the election of a black man to the US Presidency.
In an interview conducted last year, Despres remembered being in a mid-1920s U. of C. class where the professor proclaimed the (vastly outrageous at the time) statement, "We cannot call this nation a democracy until we have elected a ‘Negro’ President."
"I found myself deeply impressed with [the professor’s] statement and have recalled it on many occasions since then," Despres said. He strongly supported Obama, seeing him bringing "a breadth of integrity not in that office in a long time." He also said, "[Obama] is a good man, highly intelligent, but not an elitist. And I see him staying that way."
And a key for the former Alderman was watching the rise of this young community organizer, then state Senator in the same neighborhood that Despres once represented and still knew so well – with Obama being supported and then elected by the same core mixed group of progressives who had emerged in the ‘50s (and solidified through the ‘60s and ‘70s) supporting his independent Democratic candidacy. "Those people and I broke the mold," Despres recalled.
Now, with last October’s passing of the legendary progressive Studs Terkel, the death of Leon Despres takes away the last of the longtime "liberal consciences" of Chicago. Perhaps the best epitaph for Despres can be found in a quote from one of our best-ever writers, Mike Royko: "Throughout his career, [Despres] had been at the forefront of just about every decent, worthwhile effort made to improve life in this city."
For more coverage of Illinois politics, look for my regular posts here on The Stonecipher Report. (And, for a free subscription to my twice-weekly e-mail column on politics and pop-culture, "And, in the News…" send a note to: m_l_sweeney@hotmail.com)
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