Will a Black Republican Be the Next Mayor of the Big Apple?

Richard Parsons, the CEO of Time Warner, has a contract to lead the media giant until the end of 2008. Rumors are rampant that at that time he will leave the company to run for mayor of New York City in 2009.

Parsons, an African American, is a native of Brooklyn. He attended the University of Hawaii on a basketball scholarship, where he admits he spent more time partying than studying. But Parsons knuckled down in law school and earned the highest score on the New York State Bar Exam in 1971. He then became a protege of Nelson Rockefeller working with the long-time governor while Rockefeller served as vice president of the United States. Before coming to Time Warner in 1995, Parsons was CEO of Dime Savings Bank.

Parsons describes himself as a liberal Republican, conservative on economic issues but progressive on social issues, much like the current GOP mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.

Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.