Brooklyn, NY - David Yassky's Running For Congress Is Becoming A Race Issue

Brooklyn, NY - Some of Brooklyn's most prominent black officials said that they wanted to enlist party leaders at the national level to prevent a white politician from winning a Congressional seat long held by black politicians.

In a news conference by two dozen black elected officials and civic leaders, including United States Representative Major R. Owens, the leaders sharply criticized the motives of David Yassky, a white City Councilman who is running for the Congressional seat currently held by Mr. Owens and.
Mr. Owens said that Mr. Yassky's campaign was a reflection of "opportunism and personal ambition." "Is it well meaning?" Mr. Owens asked. "Perhaps. Is it opportunistic? Of course."

The Yassky bid has brought to the forefront latent racial tensions in a historically black district, anchored by Crown Heights and Flatbush, that also includes some wealthy white areas of Brooklyn like Park Slope. Several black and Hispanic elected officials in Brooklyn have accused Mr. Yassky of taking advantage of the fact there are several black candidates in the race and that he could win against a divided black electorate.

"If you respected us and our struggle, you wouldn't even think about moving into a district and to take this seat," said Mr. Vann, a Brooklyn Democrat.
Mr. Owens played a major role in the talks and in the news conference, referring to Mr. Yassky as "a candidate with no history and no compatibility with the district." "He couldn't adequately represent the district, no matter what his color was," Mr. Owens said.

The talks among the officials, participants said, were aimed at whether Mr. Yassky might be persuaded to withdraw. But Mr. Yassky made it clear that he had no such plans. "I believe I can make a difference in Washington," he said. "As long as I believe I can be effective and get results, I'm going to keep this campaign going. And I'm very encouraged by the voters' response."