By
But
with a white man widely expected to be re-elected as mayor (Bill de
Blasio), a white man as governor (Andrew M. Cuomo), a white man as
attorney general (Eric T. Schneiderman), and white men as city and state
comptroller (Scott M. Stringer and Thomas P. DiNapoli), race has
emerged as a flash point in the elbows-out battle to lead the City
Council for the next four years.
The speakership contest,
for arguably the second most powerful elected post in city government,
has raged behind the scenes for months, with eight men competing to
replace the current speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito. Early conventional
wisdom congealed over the summer that two councilmen from Manhattan,
Corey Johnson and Mark Levine, had emerged as the front-runners.
Both are white — prompting a backlash among some influential black and Latino city leaders.
“New
York advertises one thing. When you buy the product, you’re buying a
rainbow,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, the longtime African-American
political activist. “And when you get home you find out you have a
white, vanilla ice cream cone and there is no rainbow inside.”
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Source: The New York Times (via The Empire Report)
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