African-American MayorsOn November 7, 1967, the voters of Cleveland, Ohio, and Gary, Indiana, elected the nation's first African American mayors to govern their cities. Ten years later more than two hundred black mayors held office, and by 1993 sixty seven major urban centers, most with majority white populations, were headed by African Americans. Once in office, African American mayors faced vexing challenges. In large and small cities from the Sunbelt to the Rustbelt,