Word: gibsons
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...been Irish in Boston in the 1930s, or Italian in Buffalo in the 1960s, Kenneth Gibson's victory last week would have been both unremarked and unremarkable. But Gibson is, in Novelist Ralph Ellison's phrase, an invisible man-possessing a black skin that blinds many whites to the humanity within...
...Gibson is visible now, having confirmed for himself, his people and his city that the system works. In a runoff election with Mayor Hugh Addonizio -himself the political product of Newark's now diminishing Italian voting bloc-Gibson took a surprising 56% of the vote in what had been considered a close race. He won by 55,097 to 43,086, getting 95% of the black vote and almost 20% of the white vote. Among the whites who supported him were hundreds in Italian residential districts and thousands in areas where voters had supported a white candidate, John Caufield...
...aftermath of the vote was reassuringly normal. Young blacks snake-danced happily in Newark's streets, where, in the 1967 riots, young blacks had lain dead. Inside, a mostly black, mostly middle-class crowd partied for hours. His celebrators stopped cheering long enough for Gibson to tell them that, as he had said throughout his campaign, he would now turn to reconciliation and the desperately needed improvement of Newark's municipal services. "When Robert Treat founded the city of Newark over 300 years ago," Gibson said, "I am sure he never and you never realized that some...
Just Frightened. Addonizio headquarters were understandably dispirited, but the defeated incumbent issued a calm and constructive concession statement. He congratulated Gibson on his "splendid victory," called on the city to support him, and offered his own help in the transfer of power. Two days after the election, the two men had a cordial meeting...
There was lingering bitterness too. Before Addonizio's statement, militant anti-blacks who had placed their hopes on him attacked newsmen covering his headquarters. No one was seriously hurt, but cameras were smashed and TV cables ripped out. For some white voters, Gibson's triumph was a nightmare. Said one white man: "Harry Belafonte came in last week, and then there are those young Jewish lawyers from Paterson coming up here. It's all outsiders and Communists." Outside a polling place, Mrs. Josephine Heinze demanded: "Are we prejudiced because we voted for Addonizio?" Her daughter replied...