When Westchester County Executive George Latimer ascended the podium at the Black Democrats of Westchester’s annual reception in late January, he chose to speak about the abundance of Black elected officials who now dot the majority-white, suburban county.
Listing out Black officials — from state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and his own hand-picked deputy county executive to more local figures — Latimer described the present moment as the product of decades of hard work toward achieving racial equality.
“That’s a sign of progress,” Latimer recalled of his remarks. “We haven’t made enough progress, but we’re making progress.”
To some in the crowd though, Latimer’s words betrayed a lack of self-awareness. Latimer is currently running to unseat Rep. Jamaal Bowman, lower Westchester’s first Black representative in Congress, who was in attendance as well. The county executive did not mention his Democratic primary opponent when enumerating Westchester’s accomplished Black elected officials.
“The silence was deafening — he goes out of his way not to mention the fact that Jamaal is the first Black man to represent a very diverse district and the fact that he’s actually really challenging someone,” said Shane Osinloye, a progressive member of the New Rochelle City Council, who was present at the event. “I can’t believe that he doesn’t know what he’s doing when he’s trying to surgically remove representation — not just somebody who looks like me and shares my gender, but someone who represents my issues in a way that very few other elected officials do.”
“I don’t know why he chose that particular topic, but that’s on him.”
– Leilani Yizar-Reid, Mamaroneck town trustee
Leilani Yizar-Reid, a town trustee in Mamaroneck who was also present, called Latimer’s comments “insulting.” She questioned Latimer’s decision to even bring up a sore subject in the context of his primary run.
“I don’t know why…
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