James Perkins
On this date in 2000, in Selma, Alabama, Black businessman James Perkins Jr. defeated white incumbent Joe Smitherman for mayor. A former segregationist, Smitherman was first elected before the "Bloody Sunday" civil rights march of 1965.
Perkins became the first Black mayor of that pivotal southern city, a focal point of the American Civil Rights movement.
In the nonpartisan runoff, which featured a heavy turnout, Perkins received 6,326 votes, 57 percent of the vote. Smitherman had 4,854 votes, 43 percent.
