Three members of Congress endorsed
Fernando Ferrer for mayor yesterday after Mr. Ferrer's campaign
scrambled for days to shift attention away from his controversial
comments about the 1999 police shooting of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed
African immigrant. In prepared statements released by the campaign,
Representatives Major R. Owens, Edolphus Towns and Nydia M. Velázquez
all emphasized what they see as Mr. Ferrer's long record on economic
and social issues like affordable housing, public education and racial
profiling. Several African-American
Democrats criticized his statements and accused him of pandering to
white voters. The support of black and Latino voters is considered
critical to the success of Mr. Ferrer, who is of Puerto Rican descent,
but his recent comment, coupled with the candidacy of the Manhattan
borough president, C. Virginia Fields, who is black, already appears to
be threatening the re-creation of his coalition of 2001. The Diallo
comment continues to come up at Mr. Ferrer's appearances. At a forum
last night at the City University of New York graduate center, a member
of the audience asked about the case. "Well, you may have heard I have
a position on the Diallo shooting," Mr. Ferrer said, "and I mean that
seriously, because I've had it - the same one - for six years. The
shooting occurred in my borough, it was a bad shooting."
Would you share a fox hole with Fernando Ferrer?
As a politician, Ferrer has a reputation for flip-flopping on issues
relevant to Blacks. He once opposed capital punishment when he was
seeking a borough-wide office in the Bronx, whose denizens are
overwhelmingly members of historically-oppressed groups. When whites
are factored into the equation, he conveniently morphs into a political
chameleon.[more]
Ferrer Offers Explanation of Remarks in Diallo Case [more]
As Fields Runs for Mayor, She Counts on Women to Help Her Make History [more]
