City residents went to the polls July 8, 2008, and the absentee ballots were counted the following day. When all votes were tallied, Victoria Jackson-Stanley, an African American, unseated incumbent Cleveland Rippons, a Caucasian, by 152 votes.
Newspapers outside of Cambridge soon began to write about the event, and at the same time mention the past days of Cambridge when the city went through some turbulent times in the 1960's. Referring to H. Rap Brown's visit to Cambridge in 1967 that broke out in social unrest, one newspaper said there was a clash between "Blacks" and "White" police officers. What the paper failed to mentioned was that the police force responding to the incident had with it at least three African-American officers.
Due to such reports, the recent Cambridge election was lauded by some that it was a sign that the city has come a long way, that some Caucasians are now "color blind." Being a citizen of Cambridge, I would say that many of its African American voters are also "color blind."
Not mentioned by media was the fact that two African-Americans who were commissioners for the past four years were unseated and replaced by Caucasians. The Third Ward of Cambridge is most notable, since it is predominately African-American.Those voters chose a Caucasian, Frank Stout, to replace incumbent Gilbert Cephas. Though this means while not all African-Americans of the ward voted for Stout, some did.
This recent vote indicates that many citizens of Cambridge, both Caucasian and African American, did not make skin color a priority, but focused upon the issues and the inner qualities of the candidates.
After Jackson-Stanley took the oath of office on July 21, she first gave God credit for bringing her, and Cambridge, to this point in time.
The hundreds attending the ceremony heard the new mayor say that Cambridge was at a crossroad. "We can either join together and work towards achieving greatness, or we can languish in the divisions of the past, and never live up to our fullest potential," she said.
Given the action of those African American and Caucasian voters who disregarded color and chose what they felt was best for the city, it appears that Cambridge will continue to join together for the betterment of all.
