**Becky: **I find it interesting that you talk about things like pro-choice when you take money from AIPAC, that comes for women and women's rights, but that's a side comment. My core comment is, as a Black person in the district, I find it impossible for you to be able to adequately represent my interests, and the interests of other people of color for a multitude of reasons.
Let me go into one of them that I find really problematic. When Andrew Cuomo was facing his reckoning for sexually harassing women, and you came to his defense, you had the audacity to compare what Cuomo was experiencing to the lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old child who was mutilated, murdered, and lynched. I find it completely offensive that you would make that comparison, on top of a bunch of other things that you do.
I'd like for you to respond to that. With that response, what I don't want you to do is to engage in tokenization, because every time you're asked about race, you then start going into a litany of, "I have Black friends," response. You know who also has Black friends? Donald Trump. Proximity to Blackness is not a shield from racism. I think you're a racist. I think that the way that you engage with people of color in your district that ask you hard questions, you respond by being very aggressive with them, very combative with them, and you marginalize them, as you go into your response.
I want you to respond to how you could adequately represent somebody like me, when I think the way that you come for me, and people like me, actually, attacks and endangers people of color in your district, and this country.
**Brian Lehrer: **Thank you for your question. County Executive Latimer, tough question.
**County Executive George Latimer: **Well, clearly, I can't satisfy the caller, because she's made up her mind. What I can tell you is, is that the Mount Vernon Democratic Committee, which is 85% African American, endorsed me unanimously for this position. I have the support of African American county legislators, African American elected officials throughout the county. I have the supportive unions like CSEA and TWU Local 100, which are multicultural African American, and Latino individuals. They're not offended by my policy.
I think the caller has a point of view which is shared by some people, but I do not believe it's shared universally. I have the support from some members of the Black clergy, who understand who I am as a person. They don't judge me by a tweet, and they don't judge me with a predetermined notion that somehow because I am white, I can't possibly represent somebody who is not white. You can only be in one demographic, and if the philosophy of where we are heading is, that you cannot be in office, unless you have my identity, then we're in a bad place.
Source: Brian Lehrer Show June 12th “Meet the Candidates: George Latimer”
