Betrayed Again 

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Like others last week, Williams blamed his loss in part on Republican enthusiasm and the lack of African-American turnout compared to Republican voter turnout. Even though he has served for eight years as a district rep, he even questioned how well known he might be compared to Helms, who had run at large many times before. But while these things no doubt contributed to Williams' loss, the fact that white Democrats appear to be voting for black Democrats less often than their white counterparts -- and that in precinct after precinct, Williams was deserted by some white Democrats when he needed them the most -- remains unchanged.

"Anyone who says it (race) didn't matter isn't being truthful with themselves," said Mitchell.

Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Cannon, an African-American who won his at-large city council seat in a citywide race last year, has his doubts as well.

"You can't tell me that the people of this county didn't know who Darrel Williams was," Cannon said. While Cannon also admitted that other factors besides race influenced Williams' loss, he also said the party continues to "use" African-Americans.

While Arrington admits there's some of all of the above going on, he placed some of the blame for Williams' loss squarely on Williams' shoulders.

"I don't think Williams did the campaigning he should have done in the white community," said Arrington. "You have to go out there into the white community and you show your face and say, "See, I have a black face but I don't have horns and I will represent you.' Williams did not do that. He did not have that kind of aggressive campaign. He might have beaten Republican Dan Ramirez if he had done so."

There is some evidence to support Arrington's viewpoint. Arthur Griffin, an African-American at-large school board member who lives in the suburbs, won his race by running a solid campaign that touched all parts of the county. And although Cannon ran in the city of Charlotte, which has a smaller percentage of Republicans than the county as a whole, he also won his seat in a citywide at-large race.

Whatever the case, the county's black leaders say they want answers from the Democrat Party's leadership. Some, like Cannon, went so far as to say that African-American voters should consider switching their affiliation from Democrat to Unaffiliated. But none of the black leaders CL talked to would go so far as to say they'd switch over to the Republican Party or actively work to support Republican candidates.

Mary Kay Ulsamer, the Chairperson of the Mecklenburg County Republican Party, said the party has been working to reach out to black voters. This fall, the local party and the Republican National Committee sponsored an event at the Marriott on Tyvola Road aimed at reaching out to African-American voters. About 300 people attended and while most were black Republicans, "quite a few" black precinct chairpeople came, she said. Ulsamer also pointed out that in the two days after the election, the part of the county party's web page that chronicles the timeline of black Republican history got between 80 to 90 hits a day, far more than usual. Ulsamer thinks that might indicate that some young African-American voters, who are more likely to be computer savvy, could be having second thoughts about their parents' stalwart allegiance to the Democrats.

"Something's going on," Ulsamer said. "We'll continue our outreach. We need to gear up even more."

Ulsamer said Republicans have gotten a bad rap when it comes to race.

"The Republican Party is supposed to be the party of bigots and racists, but we elected an immigrant," she said, referring to Ramirez's third place at-large victory. But even Ulsamer has doubts about whether black voters will ever find a home in the GOP in large numbers.

"I think most blacks are conservative in the way they live their lives," Ulsamer said. "For someone to come over to the Republican Party they would have to share our philosophy about government, but I don't know if they do."

Evidence of that was already seen Friday, when Mitchell punctuated his rave about the racial proclivities of his own party with a diatribe against a proposal by Republican County Commissioner Tom Cox, who came in first in the at-large race, to lop a dozen or so cents off the property tax rate.

"Think what that will do to social services," he said.

How white Republican voters might react to black Republican candidates is unknown because there's never been a serious black Republican candidate in Mecklenburg County in recent memory, if ever. And Arrington, who credits Helms' prior first place finishes in the at-large race in part to ticket-splitting moderate Republicans and unaffiliated voters, points out that they, too, abandoned Williams.