Biracial Cool: Bill de Blasio’s Fresh Electoral Asset
“I’m Bill de Blasio, and I’m not a boring white guy.”
How’s that for a political opener? This is how the New York mayor-elect describes himself. At an August fundraiser for the Young Progressives for de Blasio, his daughter Chiara introduced him to the crowd, making an appeal for a new kind of inclusive city politics. Flanked by her entire family, she remarked, “If we’re gonna bring new ideas to the table and create a world, a society … where everyone has a chance, we need to start listening to everybody’s ideas.”
What are these bold and inventive ideas of the new mayor? Some of them follow a traditional Democratic nesting doll scheme: good government followed by more jobs succeeded by affordable housing topped off by better schools. Add in reason, compassion, equality, and whoomp! There it is—a consummate progressive platform. But the de Blasio campaign offered another idea that most campaigns can’t: the racially integrated family.
Like it or not, it works.
De Blasio is white. His wife, Chirlane McCray, is black. Their two children, Dante and Chiara, are biracial. Their campaign literature relentlessly spotlighted the effortless interracial cool of Brooklyn bohemia—that wonderful, eucalyptus-scented world of woody brownstones, aromatic teas, and gloriously integrated Cheerios breakfasts. His website features his family and marriage first, ahead of “Issues.” At his rallies, his wife and children are the feature rather than the curtain call. His mailings ask recipients to “Meet the BROOKLYN FAMILY who’s fighting to change New York.” They picture the smiling family, drinking orange juice and playing Trivial Pursuit. [Read more]
Comments
Wow wow ….new York newly elected mayor says it all….america leads tthe way in racial harmony….life is not black or white ….it is as colourful as the rainbow…
Question ….is this office a yearly event at the ballot box …..
London maveric mayor Boris Johnston is having a second year as mayor….
He may have a third year to change LONDON but will have to be voted in MAY
2014…..my gut feeling is he will be next prime minister of UK….
judged by his performance in his third term as mayor of LONDON.
Population 9.7 million winter
Almost 15 million in summer.
A week a month a year is a long time in politricks
Kamptan
This guy, Richard Cohen and The Washington Post, are taking some heat about some careless reference to this bi-racial marriage – it would seem to me, like a very backward outlook, given the USA has actually moved on to considering and approving same-sex marriages. Anyway, here is the editor defending the article: http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-cohen-on-bill-de-blasio-racist-2013-11