ABSTRACT
Just what was Bill Clinton doing in Harlem? In 2001 the man described by Toni Morrison as the first black president of the United States3 ensconced himself in the iconically black heartland of New York to build his business, wipe out his legal debts and support his wife Hilary, the newly elected senator. Clinton’s base in Harlem received mixed reviews.4 For some he demonstrated the redemptive potential of the commitment to multiracial democracy of an individual that came out of a particular kind of poor white communion with the civil rights movement. For others he represented an alien presence of white power in the heartland of black New York. Malik Zulu Shabazz of the new Black Panther Party of New York suggested Clinton’s professed affiliation with Harlem lacked authenticity. For others again – as brownstone properties had begun to top $800,000 a piece locally –
Clinton’s presence merely gave the final twist to the difficult process of rebranding Harlem land values that gave a green light to processes of ethnic gentrification.5
