Just when we thought New York was finally out of the age-old game of ethnic politics, they’re pulling us back in.
Bill de Blasio’s victory in the Democratic mayoral primary was notable for the way in which it crossed traditional ethnic lines. Exit polls show he carried (or at least tied) the African-American vote with Bill Thompson, the lone black candidate. And he won the most votes among both women and gays against Christine Quinn, who would have been New York’s first female and openly gay mayor.
Even the Rev. Al Sharpton, a past master of racial politics, was moved to declare that “a lot of the identity politics of 20 years ago, 30 years ago, has now become the identity politics of policy,” adding: “You can no longer take yesterday’s map for today’s politics.”
In other words, he said, group identity — whether based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation — isn’t enough anymore. “If you want me to turn out for you,” he said, “you got to talk to me about my interests.”
Would that it were true.
For one thing, one election does not a trend make. But ethnic politicking is already rearing its head once again in the upcoming runoff for public advocate and, more significantly, in the battle to succeed Quinn as City Council speaker come January.
Then again, it’s not as if the mayoral primary was devoid of ethnic-based campaigning. De Blasio’s hugely successful ad featuring his bi-racial, but identifiably African-American, son may have cut across racial lines, but it was a clever way to appeal particularly to black voters, which it clearly did.
Yet with white men now all but certain to be elected both mayor and comptroller, there are growing calls for the other two races to be decided not on the basis of policy but rather on ethnic diversity. That will be particularly true if Dan Squadron defeats favorite Letitia James in the public advocate runoff, which would put white males in all three citywide positions.
No one said it more crassly than Sonia Ossorio, president of the local chapter of the National Association for Women: “Do we really want . . . the most important positions here in the city to be all-white, all male?”
But others are saying pretty much the same thing. Political consultant George Arzt bluntly told the Times that if Squadron wins, “there’ll be a lot of pressure to pick a minority member for speaker” because “you can’t have four white men.”
Well, you can, actually, if the voters like what they see (and for three of those seats, they’ll be picking them directly). But some of the speaker hopefuls themselves are making the same case, like Councilman Jumaane Williams, who said ethnic considerations are “a priority” and “should be pushed.”
And that has the pundits suggesting that the race for speaker will simply boil down to the kind of ethnic balancing act that once upon a time was mandatory here when assembling political tickets.
Which means that candidates like Williams or Inez Dickens (subject of several Post stories about unpaid violations in buildings she owns) or Melissa Mark-Viverito or Annabel Palma would likely become the front-runners against either Mark Weprin or Dan Garodnick.
No problem with that, of course — if it’s based on something other than their gender, race or ethnic background. But clearly the kind of back-door political dealing that selects a speaker is going to be as interested in the various hopefuls’ skin as in the content of their character.
So don’t be misled by what happened with Bill de Blasio: New York hasn’t yet entered a post-racial era. Ethnic politics is still alive and well, and tt’s not going to disappear anytime soon.