The Politics of Race

To the Editor:

Richard Steier's Sept. 22 column, "He Didn't Know His Place," is a telling one in many respects.

For one thing, it highlights the undeniable reality that overt ethnic bigotry is alive and well in every community. Indeed, it seems part and parcel of the human condition.

Michael Roberts's and Albert Vann's racial comments should come as no great surprise to anyone who recognizes the fact that bigotry/''racism'' cuts across all ethnic lines, as did the remarks of the unnamed Orthodox Jewish rabbi who would not support David Yassky because "he married a goy."

In fact, had a prominent black refused to support a black candidate because he'd married a white, Hispanic or Asian, and used a racial derogatory to explain it, or had a prominent white explained his refusal to support a white candidate merely because he'd married a black, Hispanic or Asian, using such a racial derogatory, that would've almost certainly been front-page news across this city.

A part of the problem is that "identity politics," though related to the issues of race, ethnicity and culture, is also different, as it often is seen as a politically encouraged form of group pride rather than overt xenophobia.

The natural inclination of those who believe that bigotry is "an artificial human construct and thus unnatural" is that "We, as a people, are making progress and considering factors like race and ethnicity less and less."

Reality often makes that view appear to be little more than wishful thinking. Sure, there are examples like Gary Franks, a black conservative representing a predominantly white and heavily conservative district in Connecticut, but such cases are fairly rare.

Discerning voters may well put ideology over race and ethnicity, but in a race between two ideologically similar but ethnically distinct candidates, most voters will feel more comfortable with the candidates from their own group.

Yet even that bit of innate xenophobia should be differentiated from the more corrosive elements of overt bigotry - the kind evidenced in Michael Roberts's comments (claiming the New York Times "clearly wants to perpetuate the plantation system in Brooklyn by helping to elect a 'neo-massa.'") or the thoughtless comment of that unnamed Orthodox rabbi.

Certainly, what's even more distressing is the dissonant, often self-contradictory views that politicians like Yvette Clarke maintain - often arguing in favor of diversity concerns over merit in municipal hiring, ostensibly to increase "ethnic diversity," while appearing to support political gerrymandering by race in her own backyard, in a seemingly deliberate effort to decrease "ethnic diversity" in the political arena.

JOSEPH M. KEARNEY