The 11th Congressional District in New York in Central Brooklyn is predominantly black. It was first represented by Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress. Today, as the 2006 campaign heats up, the distrctt is in the middle of a heated controversy as some political leaders denounce the temerity of a white man to run for the 11th District seat.
The candidacy of that politician, David Yassky ? who has built a reputation as an accomplished, independent-minded councilman ? has led to angry accusations of racial carpetbagging. It has also spawned calls by black politicians that he abandon the contest and that Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer, Mr. Yassky’s mentor, take sides in the fight.But perhaps more important, the hostilities say much about the evolving nature of black neighborhoods like Crown Heights and Brownsville and the profound repercussions on politics.
As the forces of immigration and gentrification have altered the demographics of these communities, ethnic and racial blocs that once promoted their own candidates have fractured, with voters now choosing among politicians of various backgrounds.
Nowhere is the phenomenon more stark than in the contest for the 11th Congressional District, where American- and Caribbean-born blacks vie for power and a steady influx of whites has heightened the worry that blacks will be displaced, from their neighborhoods and from the political hierarchy. It is a fear that Mr. Yassky’s candidacy has intensified, so much so that a group of black and Hispanic politicians are discussing ways to make sure he loses.
In other words, the District has changed and the old political alliances don’t work anymore. But that hasn’t stopped certain people from making it a racial issue:
The Rev. Al Sharpton has been among those working to ensure that a black is elected from the district, which was drawn in the 1960’s to enhance minority representation. He said he had met with Mr. Yassky and argued against his candidacy. “Given our underrepresentation in terms of this state in terms of blacks we can’t afford not to try and keep a voter-rights seats in the hands of who it was designed for,” Mr. Sharpton said.He added: “The issue is, why would you think there’s not a black as qualified and who could do just as good a job in Washington? So the inference is when someone moves into our district, they’re telling us, ‘Well, ain’t nobody in the district who can do what I do.’ “
Al Sharpton, of course, is fake, a phony, and a fraud. That, along with his complicity in a false criminal case twenty five years ago, though, has not stopped him from becoming a major force in New York City politics. For better or worse, the campaign in the 11th District appears to be boiling down to the question of whether you have to be black to represent the district. While I am certain that I would agree with almost none of what Mr. Yassky believes in, I find myself agreeing with this statement summing the race up quite nicely:
“More African-Americans in Congress rather than fewer is a good thing, but you also want to have a district, including, certainly, a district that’s majority African-American represented really effectively in Congress,” he said. “The voters may decide they don’t want to hire me, but I absolutely intend to give them that choice.”
