Unbought and Unbossed

by Shirley Chisholm

This raises the question of whether black politicians can be elected where the electorate is not solidly black. I believe the answer is yes, sometimes. But to do so they must stay aware of six points Georgia State legislator Julian Bond out- lined in the second issue of The Black Politician: 1. Social, economic, education, political and physical segregation and discrimination fill a very real need for the white majority. 2. Appeals to justice and fair play are outmoded and useless when power, financial gain and prestige are at stake. 3. Positions of segregation and discrimination will be adhered to until change is forced through coercion, threats, power or violence. 4. Initiative for black political organization and education must come from within the Negro community and must be sustained on a day-to-day basis. 5. The geographical distribution of Negroes makes Negro- white coalitions desirable, but only when based on racial self-interest and genuine equality between the coalescing groups. 6. Racial self-interest, race consciousness and racial solidarity must always be paramount in the words and deeds of blacks in politics; when self-interest is forgotten, organized racism will continue to dominate and frustrate the best-organized actions of any black political unit, and leave it powerless and defenseless.