11th CD Race Isn't Black-and-White Issue

Subject: 11th CD Race Isn't Black-and-White Issue

Dispatch: 11th CD Race Isn't Black-and-White Issue, It's Not Even a Pink-and-Blue One
Dear Editor:
In Central Brooklyn, within the 11th Congressional District, there is a hotly contested primary race that is taking place for the congressional seat of retiring Congressman Major Owens. The candidates for this seat are Chris Owens (the son of Major Owens), Councilwomen Yvette Clark, and State Senator Carl Andrews (all of whom are black), and Councilman David Yassky, who is white.
For over twenty years the political leadership inside this district has remained the same, with the exception of a handful of strong independents, such as Councilman James E. Davis, who was assassinated inside the walls of New York City Hall, and Councilman Charles Barron, to name a very select few. The political leadership in this district includes New York City Council members Al Vann, Tish James, and Yvette Clark, State Assembly members Annette Robinson and Roger Green, State Senators Velmenatte Montgomery and Carl Andrews, former Assemblyman Clarence Norman (who was convicted on numerous criminal charges), and Congressman Major Owens.
On Saturday, June 17, a Black Empowerment Summit was organized at Concord Baptist Church stressing the need for black people to reclaim their community. Councilman Al Vann was the lead promoter of this summit.
Prior to this important summit, Councilman Vann and the other political leaders had boldly emphasized that the 11th CD should have a black congress person who reflects the community, which is 60 percent black. However, several months ago, during the 2005 Mayoral election, a black woman named C. Virginia Fields and a Latino named Fernando Ferrer were running for office, and Councilman Al Vann, with his black empowerment views, chose to endorse Council Speaker Gifford Miller, who was a white candidate. According to census figures, the city of New York has a majority black and Latino population, so why didn’t Mr. Vann chose to endorse a black or Latino candidate in this case?
The black community has a veritable laundry list of issues to deal with. Crime, poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, gun violence, lack of quality education, dark and dirty streets, lack of proper health care, cutbacks in programs for our senior citizens, poor police community relations and gentrification are issues that plague Central Brooklyn and have so since the 70’s. The issues are not only never addressed, but intensify under the current “leadership” of these powerful black elected officials (PBEO).
In 1991, under these same PBEO’s (the offices they held might have been different, but the names remained the same), the Crown Heights riots erupted because of these same manipulative tactics. Tactics which have led the black and Jewish community to became more divided. Meanwhile, behind closed doors, deals were being made to produce a multi-million dollar Brooklyn Jewish Children’s Museum, as well as countless Yeshiva schools. Needless to say, this excluded any talk of economic and educational empowerment for the neighboring black communities.
In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Brownsville and Flatbush, many people don’t even know whether or not they have a place to live, a job, or even food on their table because of the current leadership. Far too many people in these communities are living hand-to-mouth and paycheck-to-paycheck.
There’s been great debate about whether the congressional candidate, Councilman David Yassky, should be allowed to represent the people of the 11th Congressional District because of the color of his skin. In light of the poor representation that we have received for the last 20 twenty years, I personally would not care if the candidate running for office was green, purple, or blue - just so long as they do their job and adhere to the community-at-large and not cater to one particular segment of it.
Let me be quite clear, Black Empowerment Summits are extremely important. However, it’s very manipulative to hold a Black Empowerment Summit for your own agenda, which is to prevent David Yassky from taking the congressional seat. It is very dangerous to create such a hostile environment by making this a black-and-white issue. Misinformed individuals may react to such hateful and racist messages through violence. History shows us that. We need leaders to represent all the people.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey A. Davis
Brooklyn