Mike Snyder of the "Houston Chronicle" said that "the politics of race have been a potent force in the Fourth Ward." In the 1920s African-American tenants said that they were paying very high tenants to rent from poorly maintained buildings owned by white landlords. After flooding occurred in the neighborhood in one period, an African-American newspaper said that neglect from the city government was responsible. Jesse Jackson toured the Fourth Ward during his 1988 presidential campaign; Jackson accused the city of neglecting the community.