Posted on 06/24/2006 10:16:55 PM PDT by neverdem
For the last four decades, the predominantly black population of central Brooklyn has been represented in Washington by one of its own, a tradition that dates to the 1968 victory of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress.
But now, in a district whose boundaries were drawn to strengthen black voting power, residents are locked in a wrenching, racially charged debate over a white politician's campaign for Congress.
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.
At the center of it all is Mr. Yassky, 42, a mild-mannered former law professor who, colleagues say, is a true believer in the power of government to improve lives. After volunteering on political campaigns over...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
NY study: No environmental link to cancer (breast and other cancers in part of Long Island)
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
"Mr. Yassky, ...a true believer in the power of government to improve lives..."
Well, that explains it. I can't imagine the Brooklyn black community electing someone like that.
Hmmmm.... Did you change your screen name as well, or were you Talking_Mouse in NY as well?
Please don't try to institute the "way you did it up North" and totally ruin what's left of Florida.
I've been a talking mouse since I joined.
Like trying to use the term "niggardly".
Thanks for the ping!
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