Dennis Kucinich: Candidate of the left? (tags)
Kucinich opposed busing programs to integrate Cleveland schools. Before the issue had even taken hold locally, he made a point to introduce a resolution in the city council asking Congress to oppose busing as a means of integration. While Kucinich supported social and economic programs that would benefit the white immigrant neighborhoods that made up the majority of the district he represented, he disparaged similar improvements in Black neighborhoods. One of his campaign workers remarked in 1972 that Kucinich has "learned to play dirty pool…. It’s a racial issue. There are a lot of bigots in that district and someone has to represent them, let’s face it."9