Nation: The Senate: An Individual Who Happens To Be a Negro

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From Bruce until Brooke, Negro politics have been almost totally ghettoized. Negro candidates have had no choice but to accept—and exploit—residential segregation as their only viable route to political power. New York City Democrats have consistently rejected Negro candidates except in districts at least 50% black. Nationwide, the number of Negroes in elective office is increasing, but the pattern of Negro officeholders from Negro constituencies has scarcely changed. In 1966, six Negroes were elected to the House—all from heavily Negro districts. There are 154 Negroes among the nation's 7,600 state legislators, compared with 36 in 1960; all but seven are from predominantly black constituencies. Lucius Amerson became the South's only Negro sheriff, in an Alabama county whose population is 84% colored.

If color ever truly disappears from U.S. politics, as religion already has to a large extent, it will only be because the race issue is kept in perspective by black and white politicians alike. As Ed Brooke has said: "If I did confine myself to Negro problems alone, there would hardly ever be another Negro elected to public office except from a ghetto—and justifiably so."

White Tie & Pig's Feet. At 47, the new junior Senator from Massachusetts is well equipped for the challenge. Very much the cool Boston lawyer, he is an effective orator and a eupeptic campaigner. Brooke is as much at home striding in white tie and tails down the aisle at a performance of the Boston Opera (of which he is president) as he is scampering down a campaign parade route, shouting "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hello there!" He is at ease at dinner with Vice President Humphrey, Walter Lippmann and Mrs. Christian Herter, and just as comfortable with Negro friends eating "soul food," a Porgy orgy consisting of pig's feet, ham, fried fish, cornbread and greens—to which Brooke sometimes adds champagne. He was such an energetic salesman of bonds for Israel that a high school in that country has been named for him.

Over the years he has developed a marked zest for the subtler perquisites of success: tea at his desk at midmorning and midafternoon, stylish Ivy League suits tailored by Zareh Inc. of Boston, a treasured collection of opera records. He lavished hours last month on the selection of wallpaper, carpeting and furniture for his new two-level Potomac-view apartment (rent: $310 a month) in an integrated section of southwest Washington. He owns a $40,000, nine-room home in the prosperous Boston suburb of Newton, has an eleven-acre estate on Martha's Vineyard.

With green eyes and a Gardol smile, he has an appeal to women that approximates Lena Horne's impact on men. Yet for all his public charm, he is an inner-directed man in an outer-directed profession. Even his closest staff aides have accepted the fact that he insists on making key decisions alone. In his climb to the Senate, Brooke has brought to bear the caution of the colored man, the self-confidence of the mulatto, and the conservatism of a family that was civil-service oriented.