Monday, October 31, 2005

Last week, a Globe profile of at-large Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo quoted Giovanna Negretti--the executive director of Oiste, the statewide Latino political organization--analyzing the motivation of some of Arroyo's white supporters. Here are the relevant lines: "'White yuppies are gentrifying our neighborhoods,' Negretti said,''so there is a guilt trip factor here: 'We're the ones moving into these neighborhoods, we should at least support a Latino candidate.' It's not the issue, but it is a contributing factor.'"

Now Oiste's backing away from Negretti's comments, or at least from the Globe's rendering of them. This afternoon, Oiste put out a press release accusing the Globe of taking Negretti's remarks out of context. The full text follows, but take special note of these lines near the bottom: "Finally, Felix appeals to White progressives because Whites are now gentrifying our neighborhoods and they feel compelled to support and build the community that they have moved into. They do this by supporting our local businesses, our public safety programs, and our elected officials. It was no way our intention to alienate our supporters from the white community nor to imply that white voters vote for candidates of color due to a 'guilt factor.'"

Media criticism isn't my bailiwick, but Oiste's complaint strikes me as weak. Reread the Globe quote again: white guilt is described as one reason for Arroyo's mounting popularity, not the only reason. And while Oiste and/or Negretti may not have intended, as their press release puts it, "to imply that white voters vote for candidates of color due to a 'guilt factor," Negretti's comments do exactly that. Unless the quote in question was fabricated, this isn't the Globe's problem. It's Negretti's, and Oiste's, and Arroyo's.

Why the rush to backtrack? Chalk it up to political considerations generally, and to Arroyo's quest to top the ticket in November's at-large election in particular. The notion that a candidate of color might benefit from the support of guilty white liberals doesn't strike me as A) illogical or B) objectionable. The problem, though, is that whatever benefit Arroyo gets from this dynamic might be jeopardized if the dynamic is publicly discussed.

Arroyo has a real shot at garnering more votes than any other at-large candidate on November 8. And if he does, his chances of using his council job as a springboard to higher office will increase exponentially. But even if you're an Arroyo supporter, this shouldn't preclude honest discussion of Arroyo's political identity, his strengths and weaknesses, and the sources of support. When I read the Globe piece last week, I was impressed by the willingness of Negretti--who's one of the sharpest young members of Boston's political class--to talk plainly about the politics of race-based guilt, a subject which (like many subjects dealing with race) is rarely discussed. Now, though, I'm disappointed by her willingness to retreat into political double-speak. The Arroyo campaign must have applied some serious pressure here.

Here's the press release in question. (Note to all Spanish-language speakers: I've deleted both the inverted commas and the accented i in Oiste's name due to formatting problems with the Blogger software program.)

"On Wednesday, October 26, 2005, the Boston Globe published an article featuring Councilor Felix Arroyo. The comments made to the reporter were taken out of context and we would like to share with your readers the true essence of what in fact was said. When asked why White voters were voting for Felix, Giovanna Negretti, Executive Director of Oiste, explained three points which she thought to be the among the contributing factors (not the only ones) to why White voters choose to vote for Felix:

Felix appeals to progressive White voters because he stands firm on the issues he believes in. In a time when many leaders take a wishy-washy stance on controversial issues, Felix is a breath of fresh air. He will always and without a doubt stand firm on what he believes in. For example, he is passionate about the petroleum issue. So he drives a car fueled by vegetable oil. It's not a sexy issue but he believes in it. People respect that he walks the walk.

He also appeals to progressive White voters because he works hard and shares their concerns on many issues such as affordable housing but he is often times very unconventional about his approach to these issues which is refreshing and inspires hope.

Finally, Felix appeals to White progressives because Whites are now gentrifying our neighborhoods and they feel compelled to support and build the community that they have moved into. They do this by supporting our local businesses, our public safety programs, and our elected officials.

It was no way our intention to alienate our supporters from the white community nor to imply that white voters vote for candidates of color due to a "guilt factor". Having said this, it is important to note that Oiste does not endorse candidates, therefore this statement is in no way intended to endorse or not endorse a particular candidate. Instead, it is meant to clarify information in order to educate our constituency more effectively."

10/31/2005 5:32:00 PM by Adam | Comments [0] |  
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