Mr. Hatcher repeatedly predicted that the city was about to turn the corner. He and his supporters argued that racism was a major force in Gary’s continuing slide. Urban affairs experts have pointed to the volatile economic history of the steel industry and its automation of recent decades. When Mr. Hatcher left office, there were fewer than 10,000 people working at the mill, less than half the number when he was elected 20 years earlier. But the criticisms won out in the fifth when another black Democrat, Thomas V. Barnes, soundly beat him in the 1987 Democratic primary — and again when Mr. Hatcher tried to oust Mr. Barnes four years later.

Source: New York Times December 14, 2019 23:48 UTC