Harvey Johnson, Jr.

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Harvey Johnson, Jr. is the former mayor of Jackson, Mississippi and the first African-American mayor of that city, serving two terms from 1997 to 2005.

Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Johnson attended the Vicksburg Public Schools, graduating from Temple High School. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from Tennessee State University and a master's degree in political science from The University of Cincinnati.

His professional career includes the founding of the Mississippi Institute of Small Towns, a non-profit agency developed to assist small economically depressed towns with minority leadership with housing, community development and infrastructure needs.

In 1993, Johnson ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Jackson, placing third in the Democratic primary behind two white candidates, incumbent mayor J. Kane Ditto and former mayor Dale Danks. But in 1997, Johnson defeated Ditto in the Democratic primary, and later defeated Republican opponent Charlotte Reeves in the general election, becoming Jackson's first African-American mayor.

Supporters credited Johnson with overseeing a dramatic renaissance in the city, leading the charge for several projects to help revive a decaying downtown area, including the revitalization of the Farish Street entertainment district and the strong passage of a controversial bond issue to build a convention center. Critics charged that he was an unresponsive leader who was not appropriately concerned with the city's large crime problem, neglected the maintenance of streets, and did little to curb the exodus of Jackson's upper- and middle-class residents to places outside the city limits. Johnson did, however, oversee a dramatic drop in crime rates during his tenure.

In 2005, Johnson was challenged in the Democratic primary by Frank Melton, a controversial TV manager who openly admitted that he was only running as a Democrat so he could win in a majority-black city. Melton promised to solve the city's crime problem in 90 days, while giving few specific crime plans, making crime the central focus of the election. Critics charged that Johnson said crime was a only "perception," although his perception complaints were, in fact, about the "perception of hopelessness" that he argued that crime sensationalism by the media promoted in the city. Even though Johnson did not actually say that crime was only a "perception," the phrase "perception of crime" was used widely by opponents and critics of the incumbent mayor. Melton defeated the incumbent by 63 percent with a promise of "help is on the way!" Melton easily defeated Republican challenger Rick Whitlow in the general election to succeed Johnson as mayor of Jackson. Whitlow then went to work in the new mayor's administration, which would soon see a dramatic spike in crime.

Johnson is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

Preceded by J. Kane Ditto

Mayor of Jackson, MS 1997–2005

Succeeded by Frank Melton