The issue of race and ethnicity has always plagued the political agenda in the United States. However, the issue became most important during the period from the mid-1950s through the 1960s known as the Civil Rights Era. During these years racial tensions in large cities across the U.S. increased while equality of opportunity for all people seemed to be on the decline. Two political leaders with substantial influence over minority politics and civil rights legislation during the Civil Rights Era were Congressmen Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a democrat from New York City, and William L. Dawson, a former republican turned democrat in Chicago. They not only represent two of the most politically influential cities in the U.S. aside from Washington, New York and Chicago, but they also symbolize the attitudes and characteristics of the American people during that time. Examining their coalitions in government and in the electorate, their attitudes towards the issue of race and ethnicity, and identifying who truly had their allegiance ultimately illustrates how minority politics in the Civil Rights Era shaped the current political agenda in the United States.
First, both Powell and Dawson were power hungry, charismatic individuals who realized that in order to win elections and be effective in office they had to develop strong.
political ties in local and national government as well as in the electorate. Their climb to political office and power was a slow and gradual process of manipulation and maneuvering various political factions in government as well as the voting public. "Powell had a reputation for not always honoring commitments and misstating facts in a particular situation" (Hamilton 404). Powell, elected to Congress from Harlem in 1944, was able to maintain a positive relationship with the White House during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations however many senators felt that Powell was shown political favoritism by government agencies when receiving federal loans and grants.