Black women are used to having to be scrappy and resourceful. Growing up in a world full of racism and sexism means that we are often used to “making a way out of no way” (an expression popular among black Americans) in order to both survive and thrive. Of course, we are often chastised for our passion, aspirations and outspokenness—even when we are working on behalf of the community. Nothing exemplifies this more than Tishaura Jones’s loss of the Democratic primary for mayor in St. Louis, Missouri, on Tuesday, March 7. What should have easily been a victory for Alderwoman Lyda Krewson (who won the race), was made more difficult by a surprise showing by Jones, who lost the election by 888 votes. The loss for Jones was disappointing and compounded by the fact that the day after the race, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an article which suggested that, among other things, “a dose of humility” would have made Jones more successful with voters.
“I feel like ego, patriarchy and sexism won the day and in the end St. Louis lost,” Jones, the city’s treasurer, said in an interview with The Washington Post.
Jones is right. Even though Krewson (who won) is also a woman, Jones suffered from the combination of racism and sexism—at least in terms of how she was portrayed in the media.
“I was the only black woman left standing. I was attacked more than any other candidate by the local news outlet,” [Jones said.] “From my vantage point, as I looked at the attacks, it was laced with the old cover terms people like to use when describing strong women, especially strong black women: She has a bad attitude, she exhibits a bad temperament, those code words, which were written in editorials. The last one said I needed a dose of humility.”
The fact that the media covered her as an attitudinal, sassy, arrogant black woman isn’t all that surprising—after all, (un)conscious bias and racism are part and parcel of the American way. And Jones proved she is no nonsense when she wrote an amazing open letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch letting them know she had specific plans for changing the city and had no problems calling out the structural racism that has plagued it for years. But what is incredibly disappointing is that black folks (black men, in particular) couldn’t put differences aside and come together to behind a black female candidate for office. Three black men who ran against Jones refused to quit the race, thereby splitting the black vote. While we don’t know that their quitting would have definitely enabled Jones to win, it definitely contributed to her loss. Forty-nine percent of St. Louis residents are black, while whites make up 42 percent and other ethnicities represent 7 percent. Krewson, who is white, received 32 percent of the vote while Jones received 30 percent of the vote.
“She was clearly the most qualified candidate and the brothers just wouldn’t let her have it,” said Symone D. Sanders, a Democratic strategist. “The brothers did not have the capable, competent and qualified sister’s back.” [...]
Shortly before the filing deadline, Jones said, Donald Suggs, the owner and publisher of the St. Louis American, the city’s African American weekly, gathered the black candidates together to urge them to winnow their numbers. The only candidate who agreed to sit out the race was Jamilah Nasheed, a state senator.
This deserves emphasis: the only candidate who agreed to sit out the race in order to help Jones win was Jamilah Nasheed, another black woman. Black women often know what’s at stake politically and can be counted on to do what’s right, even when it’s hard to do. After all, we were Hillary Clinton’s most reliable voting bloc at 94 percent.
There are plenty of other things that contributed to Jones’s loss. Frighteningly low voter turnout for the election (28 percent), questions about Jones’s travel at taxpayer expense and her very pointed critique of the political establishment (including the editorial board of the very newspaper that suggested she needed more humility). But one thing remains clear: black women will continue to fight for a seat at the political table—no matter the racism and sexism that continue to work together to hold us back.