A Renoite vote in 1991 was likely concerned with the same issues facing northern Nevada today: development, growth and water.
Housing and environmental issues aren’t the only historical parallels with 1991. It will also be the first time a Black woman appears on the ballot as a candidate for Reno City Council in more than 30 years.
After a successful campaign in 1991, Bernice Mathews, now 90, became the first black person to serve on the Reno City Council. During her tenure on the council and as a state senator in 1994, Mathews was known as an advocate for women’s rights and an advocate for education.
Now, Lily Baran and Tara Webster are seeking to become the next Black women to hold the title of Reno City Councilwoman. Baran is competing with better-funded candidates in the District 1 race, including Kathleen Taylor, who already holds a council seat but is running in a different district after a law the city failed to overturn resulted in the dissolution of the council. general post and the addition of a sixth room. Webster faces a similar dynamic in District 5, with opponents including Devon Reese, who is also on the council but is running for a different seat in the district as his at-large seat is being eliminated.
Tara Webster, candidate for Reno City Council District 5, during an endorsement event for the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club on June 5, 2024, at Craft Wine and Beer in Reno. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)
“Running as a (Black-Latina) candidate can be and has been an isolating process,” said Webster, who has experience working as an outdoor science advocate in the nonprofit sector. Webster emphasized that there are many capable and qualified black people who could have run for municipal seats over the past three decades, but probably did not because of the challenges.
Reno City Council elections are nonpartisan, with the top two vote-getters advancing from the primary to the November general election.
Webster said she and Baran, a housing activist who was a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union during the last legislative session, have been “working our way toward endorsements that end up with established candidates, navigating the challenges of fundraising.” funds and basic management. campaigns based on small donations of money and working immeasurably hard to prove that we are acceptable to white voters.”
“We have a lot of things going against us systematically,” Webster said.
Both candidates said the election should come down to which candidate has the best policies, but they also said representation also matters in government.
“I’m glad to see and hear people say I’ll vote for someone who looks like you,” Baran said. “I would hope that even if I was a white man, my policies would be the reason they voted for me.”
Above left and right: Bethel AME Church, a historic African Methodist Episcopal church in downtown Reno. Bottom left: A monument to Nevada U.S. Representative and Senator Francis G. Newlands on Newlands Circle on California Avenue in Reno. Bottom right: The former home of Nevada Representative and United States Senator Francis G. Newlands, overlooking the Truckee River in Reno. Photos taken on June 6, 2024. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)
numbers game
Compared to northern Nevada, southern Nevada has a significantly higher percentage of black residents: about 13.8 percent of the population compared to 3 percent in Washoe County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. USA.
Bernice Mathews, the first black woman on the Reno City Council (Courtesy of blackpast.org).
Demographics may not be the only thing that hurts minorities who decide to run for public office in Northern Nevada.
It took nearly eight decades for Reno to elect its first female mayor, Barbara Bennett, in 1979, even though the region has a nearly equal split between men and women in population density. Most recently, Oscar Delgado became the city council’s first Latino member after his election in 2012, even though the Latino community makes up more than a quarter of Washoe County’s population.
Despite Reno’s sizable Asian population, there has never been an Asian American elected to the Reno City Council. That could also change this election if Michaelangelo Urbina Aranda, a second-generation Filipino immigrant, is elected to the District 6 seat.
In recent years, Nevada has made significant progress in diversifying its pool of elected officials, including electing Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, the nation’s first Latina senator, and in 2019 becoming the first state to have a Legislature. majority female.
But some glass ceilings are taking longer to break: Nevada’s first black mayor, Pamela Goynes-Brown, was elected to lead North Las Vegas just two years ago.
Lack of support
Darryl Feemster served on the Reno City Council after his appointment in 1998. (Courtesy of the City of Reno)
Politics is not the only space. Webster has been the only black woman in the room. She has faced challenges in academia and science (Webster has a master’s degree in biology and experience working in STEM education), as well as as a homeowner in her neighborhood, where she said she has been called racial slurs.
“There are so many wonderful, qualified people who could run for these positions, but they don’t, and I don’t know what the reasons are,” Webster said. “I can only imagine what those reasons are based on my experience living in Reno and northern Nevada… It’s not an easy space to live in.”
He added that the area is progressing and becoming more diverse, but people of color still face discrimination in Reno.
Baran has garnered community support from Reno residents concerned about housing and community issues. Webster’s scientific background earned him the endorsement of some environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club PAC, which also endorsed Baran.
Edward Coleman, founder of Black Community Collective, an organization focused on supporting Black-owned businesses, has knocked on doors and donated $250 to Baran.
Now Assemblywoman Angie Taylor (D-Reno) and then Washoe County School Board Trustee at the Women’s March on January 18, 2020. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)
He said “that some organizations may have chosen not to endorse due to a perceived threat, real or not, of retaliation by the powers that be.”
“Just because someone in Northern Nevada is black doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to deal with black issues,” Baran said. “We need to be more discerning when we vote for people and make sure they also uphold the values and have the courage to not just support other black candidates, which is not always what happens.”
Assemblywoman Angie Taylor (D-Reno), who is Black and is running for a state Senate seat this election, endorsed Frank Perez, former chair of the Washoe County Library Board and one of Baran’s competitors for the District 1 seat.
Taylor told The Nevada Independent that Perez had asked for his support months before Baran announced his candidacy, but praised Baran and Webster for throwing their hats into the political ring.
“When you don’t have a lot of people who look like you, it takes even more courage in my opinion…especially for the two women running for city council and this is their first run,” Taylor said. “I can’t underestimate what that must have meant for each of them.”
The Needham Rooming House on Elko Avenue in Reno on June 6, 2024. The Needhams provided necessary lodging for black visitors to Reno in the 1940s and 1950s. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent
Webster said campaigning is already difficult, but it is especially difficult when the candidate is a person of color.
“I definitely understand why people maybe don’t go down this path, because it’s hard enough to be in politics,” Webster said. “It takes a certain level of callousness and that can really be compounded when you’re faced with all these other areas of discrimination.”
Why it is important historically
Baran said the black experience is often forgotten when talking about Reno’s history, despite the many contributions the black community has made to the area. The historic Lear Theater was designed by Paul Revere Williams, a famous black architect known for designing homes for Hollywood stars such as Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball.
American poet and activist Langston Hughes. (Photo from the Library of Congress).
Langston Hughes retired to Reno to concentrate on his writing, visiting Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, residing on Elko Avenue, and eating in Reno’s Chinese restaurants, which were the few places where non-white people were welcome.
Black Springs, located in the Northern Valleys, was one of the first places where black residents could own property in Washoe County and was a vibrant community in the 1940s. However, until recently, much of this history was forgotten.
Reno’s history has many racist overtones: the city has a history of redlining caused by the Federal Housing Administration’s policy of providing financing only to white families in certain neighborhoods, and Reno’s Chinatown was burned down twice and has not been been completely rebuilt.
During the 2023 legislative session, SB368 passed and removed racist language, including who could and could not reside in the home, which were generally non-white people, from several property deeds in Washoe County.
While Baran said representation is important, he hopes it’s his politics, not his race, that people are excited to vote for. Webster added that representation goes beyond physical resemblance, but also experience.
“Both voters and non-voters need representation that goes beyond mere physical resemblance,” Webster said. “We need representatives who share our experiences and our culture, understand our struggles, and can create policies that truly benefit working class and marginalized communities.”
Left: The Lear Theater, designed by architect Paul Revere Williams and erected in 1939, in downtown Reno, June 5, 2024. Williams was the first black architect to become a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1923. Right : Site of the Black Springs Volunteer Fire Department, now home to the Northern Nevada African American Firefighters Museum, in the historic Black Springs neighborhood of Reno on June 6, 2024. Black Springs is located approximately six miles north north of downtown Reno and became a neighborhood for black residents due to the obstacles African Americans faced when trying to purchase property in Sparks and Reno. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)
Keynote USA
For the Latest Local News, Follow Keynote USA Local on Twitter.