This takes away from a good, strong plot about the murder of a black councilman.

Years later he became the town's first black councilman.

Their activity is cautiously championed by Wynn (Joe Morton), a newly elected black councilman who is torn between changing the system and joining it.

The verdict and the death sentence were considered exceptional because the Sharpeville Six were not found to have been "causal contributors" in the death of the black councilman.

More recently, at a September meeting, the town's only black Councilman was harassed by a man dressed in a gorilla suit.

When I asked Bill Stallworth, a black councilman whose ward includes about half of East Biloxi, he was just as blunt.

A portrait of Robert E. Lee was removed from Richmond's centerpiece Canal Walk in June after a black councilman objected.

After redistricting, the first black Councilman, Joseph Burgess, was elected that year.

Mr. Ortego said the failure to have a black councilman was not surprising in view of the small number of blacks.

They cited the case of Mr. Fisher, a Republican who is the only black Councilman.