Decent Americans have to be disgusted when they read stories like this one -- and have to recognize which political party remains the seat of racism in America.

A group of black and Hispanic elected officials from Brooklyn are scheduled to meet this morning to devise strategies to keep a white candidate from winning a Congressional seat of historical significance in black politics.

It is not the first such meeting of these officials, nor is it likely to be the last. That there are talks so steeped in ethnicity indicates that race is not just one of the issues in determining who will succeed Representative Major R. Owens. It seems to be the dominant one.

Mr. Owens, a veteran of more than two decades in Congress who turns 70 this month, is not running for re-election. The black and Hispanic officials gathering today are discussing how to prevent David Yassky, a white city councilman from Brooklyn Heights, from winning a seat that once belonged to Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress.

Mr. Yassky, a former law professor, has collected as much in campaign contributions as his rivals combined, more than $800,000 at the time of the last campaign finance filing.

And his three black opponents in the Democratic primary — as well as many black and Hispanic officials throughout the borough — have become increasingly agitated by the possibility that blacks would split their vote, allowing him to win.

Today's meeting, which was called by City Councilman Albert Vann, a Brooklyn Democrat, will focus in part on whether one or two of the three black candidates might be willing to drop out of the campaign.

Two weeks ago, a fourth black candidate, Assemblyman N. Nick Perry, announced that he was withdrawing from the Congressional campaign and running instead for re-election. He said one reason was to reduce the number of black candidates and make it harder for Mr. Yassky to succeed.

In other words, they want the winner of this election to be judged by the color of his skin, not the content of his character.

Now why this racist strategy to keep the seat in black hands? Well, it goes back to the history of the district.

As a result of a lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, several predominantly black neighborhoods of Brooklyn were consolidated into the 12th Congressional District. In 1968 it elected Ms. Chisholm, who in 1972 sought the Democratic presidential nomination. Mr. Owens succeeded her in 1983.

The district lines were later shifted, and much of the 12th District was incorporated into what is now the 11th.

"We want to see if there is a way that we might unite behind one black candidate in the race, as opposed to several black candidates running along with Yassky," said Assemblywoman Annette Robinson, an organizer of the meeting. "We're going to try to work this out, reminding the candidates that people have fought for this district to be a Voting Rights district."

Uh. . . excuse me? Do you really mean to imply, madam Assemblywoman, that someone's voting rights would have been violated if a white candidate wins in this congressional district? I thought that the purpose of the Voting Rights Act was to end racial discrimination in voting, and to make sure that blacks could have meaningful participation in the electoral process. Nothing I have ever read has indicated that it was supposed to Jim Crow the election process, posting "No Whites Allowed" on certain electoral districts.

I want to know where the public outcry is -- you know, the howls of outrage that would follow if a group of white political leaders were to conspire to prevent a popular black candidate from winning an election.

And I hope the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is taking careful note of this meeting so as to prepare to prosecute every public official and community leader who participates.

Posted by: Greg at 11:15 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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