Such an innocent act. A simple family photo. I’m so disappointed that anyone even thought to turn this into a “scandal.” In my opinion, a white man who has a “black” family very likely does “get it” more than one who has not or would not cross that line. He’s become black by association to a degree, and even if he doesn’t fully understand the experience and the struggles, I’m pretty sure that he cares a lot. For it affects him. It affects everyone, but chances are de Blasio cannot and will not ignore it.
New York Post Attack On Bill de Blasio Is Bogus
by Sheryl McCarthy
The New York Post claims that Bill de Blasio’s use of photographs of his interracial family in his campaign mailings for the public advocate’s job amounts to pandering to black voters. Frankly, I was delighted to see the photographs of the Brooklyn City Councilman’s family.
With his wife, Chirlane, an attractive, dark-skinned black woman who wears her hair in natural braids, and his children, Dante and Chiara, who are clearly biracial, the de Blasios are the picture of an attractive and apparently happy family. Leave it to the Post to lend credence to claims by City Councilman Charles Barron that the photographs are designed to pander to black voters, and that they were mailed only to voters in predominantly black sections of the city, while voters in predominantly white areas received mailings with no photos or photos of the candidate only.
DeBlasio’s press secretary’s told me the family photos were sent out citywide and were not intended to appeal to just black voters or other voters of color. They were sent out because, as de Blasio told WNYC interviewer Brian Lehrer, “I’m showing my family, and I’m showing my family to all communities because that is who I am.”
The Post story is a shoddy piece of reporting which quotes only Barron and two anonymous sources who reportedly claim that black women are complaining about the campaign flier in which Chirlane de Blasio says of her husband “He gets it,” because it suggests that de Blasio understands black residents’ concerns simply because he’s married to a black woman.
…It’s customary for politicians to run ads featuring their families. So why shouldn’t de Blasio feature his? They’re certainly attractive, and if the fact that they’re black and bi-racial wins him points in the black community and any other community in the city, so what? When I was a columnist for Newsday I interviewed de Blasio on several occasions, without knowing the race of his wife and children. When I saw the campaign photos, I was frankly delighted. His wife looks adorable, his children attractive, and aware as I am of the dearth of suitable mates for black women in this country, I’m always thrilled to run across a successful man who’s attracted to black women. Since most of the five candidates for the public advocate’s job are more or less qualified for the job, I have to admit this fact makes me think more favorably of de Blasio’s candidacy.
mulatto diaries 
I’m excited to see this family that looks like mine. It annoys me to no end that there is controversy over this. Politicians have used their families in their campaigns for years. This just shows the ignorance of the people who put this story together. This shouldn’t be news.
just a few months ago, my city had a major controversy when one of our magazines that is apart of our newspaper, showed a black man and white woman kissing.
it angered alot of white people, they felt that interracial dating was being pushed on them.
my city is very racist in a closeted and coveted way and is self segregated.
but anyways, the couple on the cover were real…and it amazed me that people thought it was being pushed on them…to me it was like, its not being pushed on you anymore than mono-racial dating.
here is a link to the picture (i dont know how to post pics in comments)
i see nothing wrong with that dude showing is family…its no worse than Palin parading her pregnant daughter around during the elections. and if it scored him points, its no worse than obama doing the same thing…i have said it in a post once, that one should use what they got to their advantage…thats the way this world has become….
One of the most important aspects of this photo and others like it is that it forces people to have to deal with a reality that some are still unwilling to face. The more that this reality is shown and the more that families like this are willing to stand up and share their reality it will eventually lead to a new reality where people will be so used to these kinds of images and it will eventually cease to have stigmas attached to it. So I say that this family definately gets it and they should continue. Win or lose they are making history.
It looks like he won the primary yesterday!
“In my opinion, a white man who has a “black” family very likely does “get it” more than one who has not or would not cross that line. He’s become black by association to a degree, and even if he doesn’t fully understand the experience and the struggles, I’m pretty sure that he cares a lot. For it affects him”
Co-sign! My mother is a dark-skinned African-American woman and my father is (was – he just passed away) Irish-American. My family looks so much like the de Blasios. I always said my father lived his life as an anti-racist advocate. He knew the implications of his associations and he helped raised me, a woman of color, despite/inspite of the backlash, harsh looks, and disapproval from his own family.
Of course he gets it he’s not dating her for votes. That is his WIFE and FAMILY and has been for decades! and after the election that is still his black family. Good for him. Best of luck and God bless.
I’m a thirty seven year old white man, a native of Tennessee. Having spent my school years in the 1970s and 1980s, I know just how far we’ve come from segregation. When I was a child, I knew of exactly one white man married to a black woman. These days, I regularly see young couples of all races out in public simply doing the things that any young couple would. It’s a sight I’m still growing accustomed to and in a good way.
Even so, this sort of controversy is something I’d expect to see on my side of the Mason-Dixon. It’s a shame that such bias still exists in New York of all places, especially in a day and age where a bi-racial man holds the highest office in the land.
I can’t believe, in this day and age, that the NY Post and the other right-wing nut jobs still think of the world strictly along racial separation lines. Walk down any major city street in America and you see a cultural mix of two hundred different cultures. These critics need to crawl back under the pre-1960s rock that they came out of.
I myself am a white man. I married a black woman. I am divorced now and I have full custody of my three boys. I live in Texas and in the urban areas I see interracial couples everywhere. But in the country you see them also but they are talked about and ridiculed.
I have experienced if from both races. Whites look at us like. What is wrong? Then black men yell at my wife at the time saying she was a traiter to her black race. She was originally from Jamaica and she was and still is very beautiful.
I am not sure the race of people leaving some of the above messages but I feel it is inappropriate to refer “This white man with a black family”
This is just a family. Their race should not even be an issue. It has become an issue and now these comments here keep the issue going by using references as above. It is not a white guy with a black family. It is not a black family it is not a white family. It is a family.
This is one thing I do not understand. Everyone considers bi-racial children as black. Just as Obama himself the “FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT” but he also is bi-racial. What happened to the white in him.
Anyways. My point is this is a family so lets all call them a family!!!!!
I think the comment made by Van is genius. I am a black man, 28, and I have dated interracially my entire life. I also date within my race. PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE!!! When you take a step back and think of the concept of racism itself, can you truly see how ignorant it is? Only fools think that they are more signifigant to this world just because the have melanin in their skin or not. I look forward and pray for the day when my 4 year old neice…who is biracial…white and black…and GORGEOUS…will grow up where this won’t even be a topic that is discussed. One day, our children and grandchildren are going to look back on us and think to themselves how absolutely absurd racism was in the first place.
Van, i would very much agree with all u have said. I am a black woman, and it is ron to be saying “A white man and his black family”. No! He is a man with his family. His wife is black and his kids r bi-racial. When will we as human beings STOP looking and judging one another based on the colour of our skins??
Any other person running for office would show pictures of them and their family, I dont see anything different with this. He is apparently very happy and proud of the life and family he has built. kudos to him.I think it is really nice to see more biracial families in the public eye, we’re out there, we do exist and I dont think we should go out of our way to draw attention away from ourselves. I am italian and mexican an my husband is black and we have a son, I dont want him to have to worry about being judged because hes black or hispanic or italian. We are all people and we all deserve respect.
It just goes to show that even though we are suppose to be the smartest in the food chain of life… we surely haven’t evolved much. Speaking for someone who has had to explain her race for much of her life, even to her now father-in-law, it is disappointing that as a whole we see color first and the person second. No one should have to feel threaten in their job position or in the general public because of who they love or have children with. But it only takes one pebble to stir ripples, it has been time for a change and though most don’t like change, its coming. So kudos for those under the scrutiny of the bias public eye that says I am me and like me or not I am here to stay.
Thanks Van
My daughter too is bi-racial ( white and black) and until she had to go to college and idenifity herself in a catagory( and she still puts mixed) wouldn’t say she was black or white. I myself am a Black American and her father Italian American. She’s a regular wonderful human being and I never asked her to claim one side or the other. She is who she is the best of both worlds so why should she have to decide and why would people make mixed/bi-racial children choose sides. You are right they are a family plan and simple.
I am a bi-racial 37 year old woman from Lafayette La, my mom and dad could not even get married in Louisiana because it was against the law. If anyone has been down south they would see people who look white, but who we call creole. Now creole had it’s beginning first with white men being with black women, or women who were not white. Having white uncles, cousins, grandparents, and so forth, I know that now that its “ok” to date black or what ever race they do. But they were so concerned with what will people think about them. I think it’s awesome that this gentleman is so courageous and has the guts to stand up for what he believes in. If only everyone could only stop hating.
I like the comment about the De Blasio’s being a family and only a family. It amazes me how many times, when people tell stories, mention the race of the person involved in the story. I am always like, what does his melanin count have to do with this story. Even if the story isn’t racist or racial in nature. But how this nice black, white, purple, brown, yellow, or orange businessman gave them a great deal on the car they bought from them. This is a family, hopefully loving, and hopefully lucky enough to live a long life loving each other and enjoying each others company despite being in the public light.
Black is soooooo beautiful that I married a gorgeous woman of color and we made great-looking babies!
Yeah that scandal was bogus… If he had a white wife and children, did the SAME ad will running in a predominately WHITE district nobody would have made a fuss.
But because his wife is black and his has mixed kids he is “race-baiting”. please.
Why is he flaunting his BLACK family just being a politician ha De Blasio anything for a vote… This says if you don’t vote for me you hate blacks and his wife should be ashamed of herself for putting her stamp on this isn’t she a part of the black intelligencia… Think about it!!!