Uncomfortable Questions for Black Brooklynites

While much of the nation has been fixated on U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in Connecticut, Ohio, and Maryland, the campaign to succeed retiring U.S. Representative Major Owens in Brooklyn, New York may be the most important in the nation for the future of race and American politics.  The fight to succeed Owens would ordinarily be a rather mundane affair in this overwhelmingly Democratic district.  But this is no run-of-the-mill campaign because it is less about politics than it is about race.  It threatens to lay bare many of the racial hangups that persist in our politics because the candidate most likely to win, David Yassky, is White.  Normally, that is not a big deal, but in a district with an African American population of about 58 percent, some are scratching their heads in uncomfortable bemusement that he might actually win.  Herein lies the conundrum for some Black activists: What, if anything, should be done to keep Yassky from winning and becoming a true anomaly in American politics: a White person representing a majority-Black constituency?

Yassky, a white New York City Councilman, is in a four-way race with three African Americans to win the party nomination; the nominee will more than likely win the November general election.  The possibility of a Yassky win has angered many African American political activists in the area, some of whom are calling for Yassky to step aside.  The district has been represented by African Americans for nearly 40 years, first by Shirley Chisholm and now by Owens, so Yassky’s candidacy and possible victory is seen by some as a step backward for Black political empowerment. 

Yassky’s critics have bathed him in a blend of thinly-veiled racial angst and withering criticism.  Some have hit out at what they see as his naked ambition; Representative Owens called Yassky a “colonizer.”  This response to Yassky is over the top, petty, and obscures a larger point that Blacks must deal with: If it’s acceptable, in fact encouraged, for an African American to represent majority-White jurisdictions – such as Barack Obama – then it has to be accepted that there will be occasions when White candidates win elections in majority-Black districts.  The position taken by those  calling for Yassky to end his campaign are seeking the enforcement of a double-standard that can actually hurt Black political development.

While the rhetoric coming from some Blacks close to the race is unfortunate, Yassky is not without criticism.  In at least one way, his candidacy reeks of political opportunism – he lived in another congressional district until earlier this year and moved to make the race in the 11th congressional district.  He may have calculated that three reasonably strong Black candidates would split the African American vote and leave a void among the rest of the electorate of Whites, who comprise about 20 percent of the vote, Latinos, who are about 12 percent of the district, and Asians, who represent about 4 percent of the populace.

Yassky’s candidacy is raising a number of difficult questions regarding race and politics.  While it’s always important for African Americans to have viable chances to win elections, the sky won’t fall if David Yassky wins this race.  That, of course, would be far less likely if one of the three other candidates emerged and actually won or decided to honestly assess their campaigns and settle on one candidate to support.

© Michael K. Fauntroy, Ph.D.
September 1, 2006