By Monsignor Noel Burtenshaw

One of Republican Bernard Epton’s campaign slogans in the Chicago race for mayor was “Epton for mayor, before it’s too late.” That slogan caused such an uproar that Mr. Epton quickly withdrew it. Commentators branded the ad as “racist beyond belief,” saying “never before have we seen such bigotry.”

“Nonsense,” says Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young. “When Maynard Jackson ran for mayor in Atlanta one of the slogans used against him was ‘Atlanta is too young to die’. The slogans have been around before.”

Reached at his office in Atlanta, Mayor Young, who campaigned in Chicago for Harold Washington, the Democratic candidate who has become Chicago’s first black mayor, said the general climate in the city of Chicago is not racist, it is ethnic. In Chicago politics, “It is more Polish against Italian than black against white. You have something like this in Boston too,” the mayor said.

“I am not saying that racism is not a part of Chicago’s problems,” said Mayor Young as he took a moment from appointments in his office to talk about Chicago. “Dr. King used to say that racism is a sickness. It must be brought to the surface if we are to deal with it. Chicago has not dealt with it yet.”

The mayor went on. “When Dr. King went to Chicago to speak about civil rights in 1966, the crowds did not merely jeer and insult him. They got violent. But he was not a politician. They may not like what a politician says about race, but they expect him to say it.”

“But too much was said by both sides in the Chicago race,” said Atlanta’s second black mayor. “First of all, Washington attacked the Chicago ‘machine’. That was a mistake. Many blacks in the city were part of the Daly machine. He organized them, they were not forgotten. What Daly never had was a relationship to blacks. That never evolved and it should. Mayor (Jane) Byrne did nothing for that evolution either. She ignored them. Jesse Jackson must get credit for pointing that out. He especially made a point of it last year during the Chicago Festival Week.”

The mayor then turned his attention to the churches in Chicago. “The black churches were the backbone of Washington’s campaign. Those churches are not just pro-Washington, they are anti-Jane Byrne and especially they are anti-Ronald Reagan.”

As Mayor Young mentions the president he sits up in his chair. “I join them there. We need a Democratic president next time, because under Reagan blacks suffer most. When the economy is bad, blacks are the ones who feel it most. And there is sheer idiocy in control in Washington, D.C.”

At this point the Mayor returns to the role of the churches in Chicago. “Cardinal Cody was a good man in his attitude to blacks but he was not aggressive. The new Cardinal Bernardin is different. He will be most aggressive. He will speak out and already has.”

“Look,” says Mayor Young as he struggles with a point, “some would have us think because of all this in Chicago that no progress has been made. I don’t think like that. Of course progress has been made, but you go to university campuses and you find frustration. Things are changing too slowly, they say.”

Ironically, Mayor Young noted that there is less frustration in some places where less racial and economic progress has been made. “I have been to ghettos in South Africa, I have sat with Caesar Chavez and I have never found anything but satisfaction with their role,” he said. “I am not saying they have justice or feel they have it good, but they know what they must do to be happy and fulfilled. We need more of that. We get frustrated and are willing to quit too quickly.”

We have another question for the mayor that has a Chicago connection. Will Jesse Jackson run for president? “Yes, I think so.” Will Mayor Young endorse him? “I am on record that I will not endorse that route. It’s not smart. You can’t win at a convention. Let’s face it, you must carry a state, at least one. Whichever Democratic candidate has the best chance of winning, I will endorse.”

“Jesse Jackson is a fine man. He could have run for mayor of Chicago and won. He didn’t want it. He wants to run for president so that he can make a point. He can’t win. You know, Dr. King talked with Dr. (Benjamin) Spock about running as a team for president but decided against it and then decided he would never run for public office.”

It has been a long day for Mayor Young. It is now almost 6 p.m. Outside two people still wait to see him. Secretaries and assistants are vacating desks. A journalist from the Chicago Tribune has some more political questions. The day is not over. The mayor leans back in his chair.

If there are more questions, in typical Andrew Young outspoken fashion, he has more answers.

“What’s next? Let’s have it.”