Racism in My Congressional District

Racist campaign tactics are unfortunately not new to Political Wire readers, but I was nonetheless shocked to see them in my own congressional district this week.

Freshman Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) is facing several challengers in a Democratic primary later this month. The best funded of them, Vedat Gashi (D), is mailing a series of flyers attacking Bowman.

But what struck me — and many others — was the photo the Gashi campaign used of Bowman with what appears to be a noticeably darker skin tone. The photo from the campaign flyer is on the left; the original is on the right. The picture used for the Gashi flyer is so darkened that Bowman’s features are barely perceptible.

It’s now been used on multiple campaign flyers.

Academic research shows that when voters are learning about a non-white candidate, darkening their skin complexion impacts how voters perceive that candidate — and not for the better.

Gashi’s campaign told City & State New York that the photo was not altered, but it clearly was.

It’s tough to defeat an incumbent like Bowman — especially when he’s been endorsed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). But there are plenty of policy differences that could have made this a competitive race.

Resorting to racist tactics is truly despicable.