#OnThisDay 1963 US Senate candidate and Mayor of Charlotte, NC Harvey Gantt enrolled at Clemson University in South Carolina, the LAST state in the south to integrate.

Of course there's more!

After Clemson, he graduated with honors with a master's in architecture from MIT. He started an architectural business in North Carolina.

He was elected to the city council, serving from 1974 to 1983. He was elected to two terms as the first black Mayor of Charlotte from 1983 to 1987.

He then ran for the US Senate against Jesse Helms in 1990. That was the first Senate campaign I worked on in my life, I volunteered the last two weeks of the campaign. I wish I'd have hollered more at THIS volunteer then!

To this DAY, I am angered by the outcome of that campaign.

"In 1990, Gantt ran for a Senate seat in North Carolina as a Democrat against the incumbent, Republican Jesse Helms. Gantt avoided the issue of race, instead attacking Helms's record on jobs, education and health care."

"With one and a half weeks to go, Gantt was ahead in the polls, but Helms aired a number of television commercials emphasizing Gantt's color. One, which attacked Gantt's pro-[choice] stance, repeatedly rewound and replayed a soundbite from Gantt . . ."

" . . . with the image changing from color to black and white, and Gantt's face appearing darker at the end. Another advertisement, known as the White Hands ad, showed a close-up of the hands of a white person reading, then crumpling a letter, while a voice-over said . . . "

". . . You needed that job, and you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota. Is that really fair?" It accused Gantt of supporting "Ted Kennedy's racial quota law".

Gantt lost the election by 47% to 53%.

I went to NC because my then-boss, Rep. Craig Washington, was the drafter of the 1990 Civil Rights Act, which Helms repeatedly called "a quota bill." It passed in the House, but Bush Sr. said he was gonna veto it. We didn't have the votes in the House for an override.

For those who don't know, Jesse Helms? As racist as James Eastland or Rand Paul have ever been. I refused to work with his office when I was a staffer on the Hill. He hated MLK, integration and anyone who wasn't white. Period. THE definition of white supremacy.

When Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, the 1st Black woman elected to the Senate, was in Helms' presence?

Helms welcomes her by whistling "Dixie." Reagan loved this fool.

You can't make this up.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Helms

Helms opposed HIV treatment, increasing the food stamp program, changed NC to a purely Republican state, opposed labor unions, the rights of the disabled, civil rights, abortion, equality for women.

When the Gantt campaign reached out to Michael Jordan to endorse Gantt over Helms, Jordan said no.

Republicans buy sneakers, too, or something along those lines was said.

To this day, I have not bought, supported or watched anything re: Michael Jordan.

It was supposed to be a joke.

The joke was on us. We weren't kidding.

Source: https://theundefeated.com/features/we-finally-have-answers-about-michael-jordan-and-republicans-buy-sneakers-too/

Mr. Gantt ran again for the Senate and lost. He is an outstanding public servant, husband and human being. He is a wonderful, kind person, and thanked us for our tireless effort.

Yeah, I'm still salty about it.

FIN/I mean, YOU CAN'T OPPOSE JESSE HELMS?!?!