Urban power, black mayors: managing inequality in Kurt Schmoke's Baltimore (MD) 1987-1999

Thesis

The late twentieth-century was an era of Black mayors: in 1967, two cities elected Black mayors, and by 1993, 67 cities with more than fifty thousand residents had elected Black mayors. Scholars conclude that these mayors inherited a “hollow prize:” a city in inexorable structural decline with little power to advance equity. Though the last thirty years of the 20th century did see urban decline, residents and city officials did not surrender. They contested, innovated, and organized, sometimes challenging inequality and other times unwittingly enabling it.

Urban Power, Black Mayors examines the mechanics of power—who wielded it, how and to what ends—during the tenure of Baltimore’s first elected Black mayor, Kurt Schmoke (1987-1999). This thesis conceptualizes the governance of Baltimore as “latticed.” Schmoke, as mayor, was a node of power in the network of Baltimore’s governance, and he influenced and was influenced by other nodes: universities, corporate actors, churches, civic leaders, the state, and the federal government. Drawing from interviews, newspaper articles, and the papers of local activists, the City of Baltimore, and corporate actors, Urban Power, Black Mayors studies contests over the control and distribution of critical goods: education, health, auto insurance, and housing. Specifically, this thesis focuses on the contests between equity-champions—those who fought for a more uniform distribution of a good—and adversaries—those who fought to maintain its unequal distribution.

Within the lattice, equity-champions—actors such as Schmoke, community organizations, and residents—sourced power from interdependence to challenge the ongoing concentration of wealth in an increasingly unequal economy. In response, diverse coalitions of adversaries—state legislatures, corporations, the federal government, Congress, and suburban leaders—each motivated to preserve their distinct advantages, coordinated to erode urban power. Schmoke’s “hollow prize” was further hollowed in response to the equity-champions’ challenges to inequality and racism. The autonomy of cities such as Baltimore was deliberately and systematically suppressed, a practice that persists today.

Authors: Martinez, S

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-wr0aobzkj
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: racial capitalism; federalism; 20th century; urban history; education; needle exchange; neoliberal; baltimore; capitalism; neighborhood development; African American history; governance; auto insurance
• Subjects: History; American political development; Education, Urban--United States--History