Mayoral candidates must earn minority vote
The preliminary election in Boston’s mayoral race is over, but some tough questions remain. Is Boston going backwards on race relations and Black empowerment? And I will scream if I hear “what the hell happened” or “that’s Boston for you” — all related to why an African American woman, including one already holding the seat as acting mayor — is not a candidate going into the final stretch.
One big reason is that voter turnout was anemic. In the Black community, at a time when we had the most to gain, we did not come out in the numbers we needed to win. Acting Mayor Kim Janey and City Councilor Andrea Campbell were neck-andneck with 19.47% and 19.72% respectively — neither had enough to win. How many times have we seen that kind of split when multiple candidates of color have run for office? When will we be open to new and different strategies that strengthen our hand, similar to the way that Harold Washington was elected Chicago mayor in 1983 when he organized all of his opponents to gather around him.
As frustrating as the mayor’s race has been, the good news going forward is that the two finalists — Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George — will have to earn the Black and minority vote. I am hopeful that the minority community will not allow half steps or compromise on the many unmet needs in our communities that remain unaddressed.
And there’s more hopeful news — in addition to the mayoral race finalists who hail from a historic city council, the council continues to be a pipeline for diversity.
Haitian-American dynamo Ruthzee Louijeune is on the Nov. 2 ballot as an at-large candidate. In her first run for office she came in third, behind fellow at-large candidates Michael Flaherty who moved up the ladder to first place and Julia Mejia who came in second.
If Harvard Law grad and community activist Louijeune is victorious in the November final, she will be the first Haitian American ever to serve on the council.
And there could very well be another African American male on the council if Brian Worrell of District 4 and David Halbert, running for an at-large seat, make it in November. There hasn’t been an African American man on the council since Tito Jackson left in 2013.
Hopefully, the new mayor and the veteran and freshman members on the council will come together for the city, and not get hung up on politicizing issues or parsing words but rather develop new ideas to solve the issues that most impact the people they serve. Overanalyzing the details of rent control or rent stabilization does not solve the problems facing renters and small landlords alike. The same goes for policing. It would be ridiculous to let the definition of “defunding” stop us from implementing much-needed police reform. At the same time, we need more police, including more officers of color, on our streets.
With a new mayor and new members added to the city council, history can also be made in greater service and diversity that lifts our city to greater heights — even in the middle of a pandemic.