EMPHIS - As Julian Bolton rushed through the street from work with his cellular phone at his ear, he shook his head in anger that Vice President Al Gore was rejected by his home state.
''I am ashamed of the state of Tennessee. They denied their state a presidency,'' said Bolton, a county commissioner. ''All that his father did for this state and all that the son did for the state.''
Months before the election, Bolton, along with other black officials, launched a massive get-out-the -vote effort here. They went into jails, trekked into schools and churches to register black voters. They handed out fliers urging African-Americans to vote for Vice President Al Gore and drove hundreds to the polls.
On Election Day, blacks came out in record numbers just like they promised. Out of the 190,000 people who voted for Gore here in Shelby County, roughly three-quarters were black, according to Herman Morris, president of the local NAACP.
That boosted Gore to victory in the state's largest county, but in a largely conservative state that is 16 percent black, their efforts were not enough. Texas Governor George W. Bush won the state by 4 percentage points, or about 78,000 votes. That denied Gore the Volunteer State's 11 electoral votes, which could have given him the presidency, even without the hotly disputed state of Florida.
Still, most black officials see the election as a victory for African-American voters in Memphis and across the country. They said the strong turnout in Shelby County demonstrates their power and loyalty for the Democratic Party.
''We did our part. We believed in Al Gore,'' said Jerry Hall, a black Democrat strategist who helped coordinate the get-out-to vote effort.
Officials said heavy black turnout proves that the minority vote really does count in major elections. Black voters, who were overwhelmingly Democratic, were given substantial credit for helping Gore win such important states as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, New York, and California. And the black turnout was one of several factors bringing Gore into a dead heat with Bush in Florida, where a recount will determine the next president.
Bishop Felton Smith of Chattanooga said the heavy turnout demonstrates that African-Americans believe ''we have not obtained our fair share. We have obtained some degree of security, and yet, we want more.'' He said blacks are worried that Gore's loss reflects a movement to the right in the country.
But the Democrats' success in Shelby County wasn't duplicated throughout the state, and a day after learning that Gore didn't carry his home state, some black officials wonder if it had anything to do with their support for the man.
''I think blacks overwhelmingly supported Gore, and that is what forced a particular element to reject him,'' said the NAACP's Morris. ''I think Tennessee has to grow up and realize that a president can be with African-Americans and still be a great president for all.''
Bishop Smith agrees. As he walked into the famous Peabody Hotel in Memphis to attend a Baptist convention, he said he believes Gore was able to hold his own in the presidential race because of the high turnout by blacks. And yet, he said that is the same reason Gore didn't win his own state.
Smith believes a large number of Bush supporters here worried that blacks who supported Gore would soon take their jobs and somehow cut in on their own prosperity.
Those Bush supporters voted in large numbers, he said. So while Shelby County, which is 50 percent black, voted for Gore, the Texas governor ran strongly in predominantly white, suburban areas such as Germantown and East and Middle Tennessee.
Not far from where Bolton was walking from work stood Elmer Pruit, a 58-year-old white construction worker from Germantown. Pruit said he voted against Gore not because of his allegiance with African-Americans or his support for affirmative action, but because Gore is connected to President Clinton.
''I think his loss is attributed to the way Clinton handled things,'' said Pruit, who is a native of Little Rock, Ark. ''You can't just stand up and lie to the country. That's it in a nutshell.''
That view was supported in exit polls Tuesday, which showed that Clinton's personal problems cost Gore 3 in 10 Democratic votes.
Still, others say Gore's decision to support gun control may have hurt him in the state. Actor Charlton Heston, who is president of the National Rifle Association, came through the state recently, giving a boost to the Republicans.
Simmie Cotton, a 56-year-old taxi driver in Memphis, said he was impressed by how hard Gore worked to get the black vote. Clinton made calls to the blacks in Memphis, and Gore came to speak at churches and sat down and ate with black voters. For that, he said, he decided to stand behind Gore..
''Yes, black folks here helped him,'' he said. ''But they couldn't do it alone.''
