Locked out of town hall, 1st Black mayor of a small Alabama town returns to office

The first Black mayor of a small Alabama town who had been locked out of town hall by white officials is returning to the job.

Mayor Patrick Braxton is being recognized as the mayor of the town of Newbern, under a lawsuit settlement ending a long-running dispute over control of the town government. U.S. District Judge Kristi K. DuBose approved the agreement Tuesday, opening the way for Braxton to take over as the town’s first Black mayor and for the possible seating of the town’s first majority-Black town council.

The settlement also will require the town to begin holding municipal elections for the first time in decades.

“This victory marks a new chapter for Newbern,” Mayor Patrick Braxton said in a statement issued by the Legal Defense Fund, which represented Braxton and other residents in a lawsuit. “I am so grateful to finally get to serve the people of Newbern. This is a win for not only me, but for all of the residents of Newbern. After decades, we will finally be able to act as citizens to cast our ballots and actively participate in the democratic process.”

Newbern, a tiny town of 133 people about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Selma, has a mayor-council government but did not hold elections for six decades. Instead, town officials governed through “hand-me-down” positions with the mayor appointing a successor and the successor appointing council members, according to the lawsuit filed by Braxton and others. That practice resulted in an overwhelmingly white government in a town where Black residents outnumber white residents by a 2-1 margin.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true»