Retiring Congressman Major Owens represents a diverse but predominantly minority district. The fact that the district was formed largely to give African-Americans a Congressional seat, and it was a seat occupied by the great Shirley Chisolm, means that Major Owens' seat is viewed by many as "by rights" a seat that should be occupied an African-American.

I am uncomfortable with this view, though I also understand it. On the one hand I do not like the idea of ANY seat being "by rights" filled by any particular demographic group. The ideal is that simply the best candidate should be the elected candidate. However, in a nation where non-white males have been denied basic rights for most of our history, there is no question that efforts should be made to compensate for the decades of racism.

Furthermore, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), of which Major Owens is a member, has been one of the few genuinely progressive voices in Congress in recent years. The CBC was the only major Democratic voice, other than the Oregon Democratic Party, that objected to the 2000 election. And the CBC along with Barbara Boxer was the only major Democratic voice denying the legitimacy of the 2004 election. The CBC has been doing what the ENTIRE Democratic Party should have been doing for years: opposing the war, the Patriot Act and the Republican attempts to steal elections.

At the center of this complexity is David Yassky, the only white candidate vying to replace Major Owens. David Yassky has been criticized for running in a "by rights" black district. I personally favor Chris Owens in this race, but not because I feel Yassky has no right to run. To me the question should be how well Yassky can represent the entirety of the district, not the color of his skin. But this issue will dog Yassky until election day.

The most recent way in which race has worked against Yassky has been on his own staff. As reported in the March 27th Park Slope Courier, Rickford Burke, one of only two African-Americans on Yassky's staff, has resigned specifically because he has decided that this seat should remain occupied by an African-American. From the Courier:

I don't think it's a good idea for [Yassky] to be running in a voting rights district," said Burke, who is also president of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy.

My first thought was why did it take this long for Burke to come to this conclusion? He knew from the start what the situation was, so why did he join Yassky’s team in the first place? He must have had some confidence that Yassky would represent the African-American part of his district adequately when he joined. Perhaps something has happened to change his mind. The Courier headline suggests that Burke’s resignation is a sign of weakness in Yassky’s campaign and Burke may be jumping a sinking ship. I think there is no basis for this implication since Yassky is way ahead in fundraising. But what we don’t know is what triggered Burke’s decision. Yassky’s staff is trying to pass it off as normal staff turnover in a campaign, yet Burke specifically states that the racial question is at least part of why he is leaving.

Yassky is well aware of the toes he is stepping on by running in a Voting Rights district. In fact, he is willing to bring up the issue himself rather than wait to be challenged. But Burke’s resignation indicates that Yassky has not yet successfully addressed the issue. Perhaps he can’t and he has to simply do his best to reassure African-American voters, relying on the massive amount of money his campaign has to win the race. But Burke feels that Yassky has to do more.

My main feeling in all this is not to blame Burke for his feeling that this seat should be occupied by an African-American, nor to blame Yassky for disagreeing. My main feeling is that it is sad that America has never really faced its racist past so that we have to face its consequences today and for decades to come. Yassky is faced with the consequences of America’s racist history. How he deals with those consequences may determine whether he wins the confidence of the voters.

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