RACE IN POLITICS
Bill de Blasio
A cranky opinion for
CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY
The following is the opinion of a cranky old man. Opposing opinions are welcome, they are wrong, but welcome, and please no name calling…that means you, you big stupid head!
Even though
we have an African-American (look, from here on I will say Black…the AA thing
is just so long) President, and a few Black Senators and Congressmen, we
still have racial issues in this country. There is something going on in New York City,
however, which I find very interesting.
I think it is good, but in some way it might be a reverse
discrimination type thing.
Anyway.
The
Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio is a White man
(see, I don’t say Euro-American) who is married to a Black woman. There was a time in politics where a member
of an inter-racial union would never be considered for office. In years past, there has probably been more animus
toward inter-racial marriage than other racial prejudice in this country.
Has Bill de
Blasio tried to hide his inter-racial marriage, first in the primaries and then
in the general election? Candidates don’t
often highlight their wives and children when running for office, so Mr. de Blasio
would not be faulted for not making his inter-racial marriage known.
Instead of
hiding what in years past might have been a liability for a candidate, Bill de
Blasio highlights it. His campaign ads
feature his bi-racial son. Just in case
it is not clear that his son is bi-racial, his son sports the biggest afro I
have ever seen…bigger than those hairdos that were so popular in the 70’s. In fact, the only things I could tell you
about Mr. de Blasio from his ads are he wants to end the police “stop and search”
tactic, and his son has a giant afro.
Dante de Blasio
Clearly his
political analysts have determined that in today’s world, in New York City at
least, being in an inter-racial marriage is a plus.
I don’t know
much about Mr. de Blasio’s positions or his politics. He is well spoken and seems like a capable
legislator. I have no vote or real
interest in who becomes the Mayor of New York, so I have done very little
research on the candidates.
Part of me
finds the obvious posturing with his Black wife and bi-racial children (apparently
to win liberal and Black votes) rather than concentrate more on issues, to be a
little offensive. Another part of me
thinks how far we have come in this country that a White candidate would find
his inter-racial marriage to be a positive in a run for Mayor. It is so much of a positive that it is the
cornerstone of his campaign.
All in all,
I think it is a good thing.
The preceding was the opinion of a cranky old man, and not necessarily that of management...Mrs. Cranky.
Interesting, Joe, but I'm not sure I agree. Seems to me (and I know less about the NYC Mayors race than you) that he's just trotting his family out to pander for votes. The citizens are not voting for his family, but for HIM and his platform. How would this be any different than an old geezer trotting out his 23-year-old blond trophy wife? I do agree, however, that it's good that it shouldn't matter either way.
ReplyDeleteS
well, i was completely disheartened when i read of the flack that cheerios got from their commercial featuring a bi-racial child and her parents. i say anything that 'normalizes' acceptance is good.
ReplyDeleteNo one should exploit their family for political gain, but all in all I think it a tiny step forward that this isn't a situation that would exclude someone from achieving public office. In the end, it will be whether or not the person can govern that will make the difference. That afro remains me of one of my college roommates who was in my wedding. Ray, who was white, had an Afro twice that size and it was bright red. It looks very strange in our wedding pictures.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that there are people that will base their vote on the color of the person's skin. It happens of both the right and left. Where a candidate stands on issues is what you should at when voting not there skin color.
ReplyDeleteThe family is important in a race if the person running and the family are okay with the family in the public eye. The racial make up of the family is not a issue to be looked at. "Is the family supportive of the candidate and is the candidate faithful to his or her family?', are the the family issues I look at.
If the family wants to stay private then I believe we should respect the family's right to privacy.
Well Cranky, I guess I would never have known about this mayoral candidate if you hadn't mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteFrom a Canadian point of view, we kinda go, "Wuh?" That whole "white, black, yellow, green" thing is *mostly* lost on us when it comes to who just might get into office. *Mostly*
See, we have all manor of politicians in our houses of ill repute er, I mean, legislature(s).
Now, that's doesn't mean I'd trust any of them any farther than I could throw them, but that has more to do with the notion that their politicians, rather than their ethnicity.
I think the kid with the "fro" looks kinda goofy, so I'm not sure about that tactic, but then again, whatever works I suppose.
This should be a non-issue--maybe (hopefully) someday it will!!
ReplyDeleteI think of a campaign being a little like a job interview. A candidate's family shouldn't be an issue. Neither should race, religion, or a few other things that have nothing to do with how a person could do the job.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there will always be a large segment of the voting public who cast their ballot for the best looking, the youngest, the slimmest, the coolest, etc. candidate rather than researching each one's stand on the issues.
ReplyDeleteAnd here is just one more reason why I detest politics and politicians! Your summation in the last paragraph is absolutely right on target, but dear lord are there not bigger issues that those running for office, and especially those VOTING, should be focusing on? We are so incredibly out of touch with reality in this country!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm it's a weird position for any candidate - the difference between hiding your family/being proud of your family/using your fam to pander for votes. And if you family is a little bit different - like gay or biracial - you're under even more scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteI do like normalizing things, but think it would be good if we got to a point where it didn't matter at all.