For those that feel starved for their Hartford news, another good source that tends to focus on Hartford issues is the Hartford Guardian. If you aren't familiar with it, click here and take a look. The Guardian is more than a blog, it has the feel and look of a more "on-line" newspaper.
Several people sent me the link to their piece today on Wooden's withdrawal from the Mayoral race. The piece is on point and says what many, myself included, had said directly to Wooden.
Skin color or race alone doesn't make a candidate. It is what is behind the skin that matters and voters are smart enough to realize that.
To read the Guardian's story, click here
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5 comments:
Wooden walked away learning how to negotiate a white world, but failed to learn how to navigate the old neighborhood he left behind...
...some African Americans had already decided they wouldn’t give Wooden a chance...
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Apparently, Kevin, skin color wasn't enough for Adams, PhD. She identifies with "some" who think Wooden not authentic Black guy from the hood. His wife doesn't want the kids to attend Hartford District Schools? No kidding. Would seem to me as perhaps a sign of good judgement. Hey, Dr. Adams, we had a black councilwoman who prevailed upon the Supreme Court to declare the District Schools constitutionally inferior because of the skin color of its students. Now that's someone who understands the old neighborhood.
I have known Shawn since his Trinity College days and was a supporter of his.I also was a volunteer for Milner's Mayor race and was among a few folks in the center of the Carry Perry races for Mayor.I have never detected a sense of "entitlement" by Shawn and I tend to greatly discount the "psycho-babble" approach to the Guardian Article.Though the article was well written, it doesn't appear that the author evens knows the subject of her article. If she is reading this blog I do hope that she can shed some light on what posessed her to write the conclusions she did.
I was told by Shawn why he decided to bow out and I accept his conclusion that putting himself thru what may well have been a rather devisive nasty primary would not have been in the best interest of Hartford or himself.Mayors in Connecticut's largest cities are "tempered" by the fire of primaries.That is what happens in large cites...trial by combat...if one is unwilling or unprepared to engage in the combat then one should not run.
Bruce,
Then why get in the race in the first place?
Being Mayor is not always an easy job and what we need is someone willing to fight the tough battles and has the fortitude to step up when it is needed. I think we have seen all too well that there are plenty of people willing to fight to maintain the stranglehold on the political power, but not willing to fight the tough battles for what is best for Hartford.
Shawn Woodeen had to have known that he could not just walk into the Office of Mayor and that it was going to be a tough fight. Why waste the time of the donors, supporters, people willing to give their time walking with him and all to just give up and quit. I'm glad we saw this side of Wooden now rather than later when we needed to count on him to fight for us. And I'm not sure the Council is the right spot for someone afraid of the tough battles either.
I agree with Kevin. Someone who only wants a job if it is easy to get and he won't have to work too hard is going to be useless as a force for change in this city.
More from Hartford Guardian:
Posted on 01 June 2011
"Perry is not from Hartford, however. He skipped Middletown, his hometown, and came to help city children excel. Soon after his prominent rise, complaints began. One critic, who was unemployed, said he, unlike Perry, has “actually been a teacher inside the classroom.” And he resented that “this light-skinned man” was telling teachers what to do.
This critic also resented Perry telling black people to pull themselves up by the bootstrap. That’s because Perry seemingly wanted to ignore the more than three centuries of slavery and the complex psychological and economic impact of a draconian machine, which garnered wealth for the western world."
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I'd never heard of Steve Perry. Apparently, he's the principal of a Capital Prep up on Main Street, and appears on CNN (no wonder I'd never heard of him) as one knowledgeable about education. He, too, according to Dr. Adams, is not black enough and fails progressive Black nationalist duty to put his kids in crappiest schools available in North End.
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