Unfortunately, it's true.
The last few weeks of this year's mayor's race became ugly, as in real ugly.
Racial divisiveness started when the primary ended with two candidates standing -- a white Republican and a black Democrat.
The endorsements of three past black mayors for one candidate and the state's governor for the other candidate has not bridged the racial gap, and, in fact, may have worsened it to some extent.
Mud-slinging media ads, postcard mailings and internet postings have escalated racial tensions.
Both candidates have attempted to distance themselves from these messages, with limited success. Both have stated that actions 30-plus years ago are not relevant to this election.
One candidate has accused the other of condoning, if not instigating, the smear campaign. This allegation has been denied.
The supporters of each candidate condemn the other for the attacks.
Most of the dirty laundry, if not all of it, has been known by this writer for many, many months. Despite pushes from many people, I have refused to publish this information in this paper or in my blog, SettleTalk.
One candidate has based his campaign on a unity theme. However, he has only endorsed council candidates that look like him. And reportedly, his supporters have leaned on others to toe the racial line and throw support to run-off candidates of the same skin color.
The winner of this election will have at least three major challenges that could undermine his entire four-year term.
The new mayor will take office with dark, personal character clouds over his head. Not the best way to start, and these could be a continuing problem during the term. If nothing more, this will be fodder for cheap political shots by disgruntled citizens.
Secondly, the mayor will take the reins of a city that has become more racially separated than it has been since Cedric Glover beat Jerry Jones in 2006. Glover handily beat a white challenger in 2020, and the following two mayors were black.
Now with a run-off between a white and a black candidate, smoldering racial tensions have been fueled and, in some instances, outright fanned.
Lastly, the new mayor is going to have a major uphill climb to put the Humpty Dumpty racial egg back together again. This will be true even if the two candidates gather after the election, sing "Kumbaya" and exchange autographed campaign T-shirts.
One can only hope that the avid supporters of each candidate can accept losing in grace and support the new mayor. Before the recent attacks on each candidate, I believed the swords would be beaten into plows.
Now I have many doubts.