New York City's politicians like to make speeches against racial discrimination, but they always discriminate rigidly when they are making up a slate of candidates. In the old days, most mayors had to be Irishmen; today, the political bosses* of all parties feel that a "balanced ticket" must include one Italian and one Jew. By last week, it was clear that another somewhat neglected minority group merited top-drawer political consideration for the Sept. 15 primary: New York's 750,000 Negroes.
The G.O.P. bosses were the first to make their bow to Harlem's increasing voting strength. Last month they nominated independent Democrat...