The mayoral race has not yet been decided, but Eric Adams is reported to have a lead on the democratic side. Rank Choice Voting has given this race and other New York City races a means of selecting more than one candidate. Candidate Eric Adams ran by, primarily, throwing out the net that many candidates throw out––crime. It is an emotionally charged topic because everyone wants to feel safe. Unfortunately, Adams, depending on which day it is, denies bringing back “Stop-and-Frisk.” He clearly stated in a debate, that he would authorize his police to use “Stop, question and Frisk.” In that scenario, an officer could stop a person, question that individual and conduct a frisk. Those questions could produce statements that will be used against an accused in court. It is not unusual for an officer to testify that the questioning of a detained individual was “investigative” questioning, not requiring the reading of Miranda warnings. Unfortunately, suppression of unlawfully obtained evidence is often not suppressed. So when Adams talks about fighting crime, he needs to be ever mindful that laws are not equally applied.
Campaigning is messy, and often volatile. That is expected, but what should not be condoned is lack of integrity, demagoguery. When candidate Kathryn Garcia and Andrew Yang decided to campaign together, Eric Adams stated that this was a racist tactic! Racism has not been conquered, no, it still exists––unfortunately on a relatively large scale. However, one need not manufacture racism where it does not exist. Adams so thinks he is entitled to be mayor of the city of New York, that he will descend to a very low place. Where is that place? Eric Adams had the audacity to say that Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia’s campaigning as a team amounted to voter suppression! That assertion should not go unchallenged. At this very moment, all kinds of actions are being taken to suppress the vote of those on whose behalf people died so they could vote. At this very moment, all kinds of organizing are taking place to resist the forces that would engage in blatant voter suppression. He went even further to assert that Yang and Garcia’s decision to start campaigning together on Juneteenth was additional evidence of their racism and attempt at voter suppression. Shame! For Eric Adams to equate what Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia did, which was not prohibited under Rank Choice Voting, to voter suppression, is indeed evidence of the extent to which he will go to win. Not only is his assertion false, it is an insult to the intelligence of people whose passions he hoped to inflame, and possibly did.
Florence Morgan lives in Flushing, New York.