Mayor Dinkins Deserved to Witness Rudy’s Decline

Wondering Thoughts about America’s Real Mayor, in Memoriam

I wonder when you last walked down 125th street. Did you smile? Were you proud? Was this your vision for uptown or a perversion of it?

I wonder when you last went to a Broadway play? Who performed? What did you think of the “progress” around the theater?

Surely you understood the plight of the protestors; and even if you didn’t, you certainly understood receiving the enmity of policemen. I wonder if you marched with the people in spirit? Did you think we did enough? Did we do to much?

Did we do anything at all?

I wonder what you thought of Obama. Your candidacy, stature, and criticism as the “first Black” predicated and predicted much of what Barry endured. How much was inevitable? How much was avoidable? Did you impart any wisdom? Did he ask for any?

I do not wonder about Rudy.

I am not a New Yorker; I am simply a Southern admirer. But I am a man. A Black man. A (maybe more) proud, (probably less) intelligent Black man, like you. I know how you felt about him. I know he took credit for things you started. I know he claimed ownership over economic and crime trends that, in retrospect, were shared with other cities…