This is a word a podcast from Slate. I'm your host, Jason Johnson. It's a classic American

story and ordinary citizen fed up with a failing government, runs for office, and they

win. But for Patrick Braxton, the mayor of New Bern, Alabama, winning the race was just

the start of his fight.

He had been denied access to the town's post office box bank accounts, financial records.

He even said that it got to the point that he had been followed by a drone.

The hazards of leading while black in rural America, coming up on a word with me, Jason Johnson.

Stay with us.

Welcome to a word. A podcast about race and politics and everything else. I'm your host,

Jason Johnson, and a small southern town, a black man sees his community suffer and decides

he must do something about it. He runs for mayor and wins. The only problem is that

the town's white leadership won't even let him serve. They scheme to invalidate the

election. They literally refuse to turn over keys to City Hall, and they threaten him

and his supporters.

Now I know this sounds like the plot of some 1960s movie with Sidney Portier, where he'd

have some white savior friend and in the end, they would win over everybody and sink

in Kumbaya, but this isn't a 1960s story. This is happening right now to Patrick Braxton

and the citizens of New Bern, Alabama, and they don't know how their story is going to

end.

In fact, many black elected leaders in rural communities face challenges to little legitimacy

from entrenched white power structures, and often they and the citizens they represent

are fighting for their rights with little or no support. Joining us now to talk more about

...