Bruce Harrell is a self described mixed race Seattleite .. African and Japanese roots giving rise to a former Husky football player.
Harrel, a very middle class guy quite at home in Bellevue where he has lived, is trying to play the “person of color” card in Seattle’s increasingly melanin free, guy gay tinged, politics. He has endorsed Lorena González (running citywide in position nine, one of the two at-large seats), Mian Rice (running in North Seattle’s fifth district), and Pamela Banks running in our district, the third.
At the kickoff party last night (naturally at the Filipino community center), Harrell called all three newcomers (all people of color) to the microphone to give speeches of their own. Harrell exhorted the crowd to help get all three elected.
Of course, if melanin is the criterion, this leaves open a big question. It is very unusual in Seattle for an incumbent to endorse a challenger to another incumbent. This will be Harell’s third term (assuming he is elected) but he is endorsing Banks running against the outspoken Kshama Sawant. Sawant has created a campaign organization, actually a local political party, behind herself as the leader of a socialist movement.
I guess socialism is too left for Harrell?
Bullshit! Must every alternative to the Establishment be thrown away. Seattle is diverse and must have diverse voices. Harrell speaks for multiple voices.
Harrel is a self centered politician with a tan skin. Until recently he lived East of the lake and had little or no record of being involved in community activism. Look for a record of stands n issues!
The irony here is that Kshama’s rhetoric of “We are the people” is really “”I am the people.” She has buot a self serving coterie rather than an alliance that could be politically effective.
You, Stephen Schwartz, are not just a racist pig, but someone who is completely lacking in the facts. Harrell doesn’t have to play the “person of color” card – he IS a person of color. His African American grandfather escaped Jim Crow south; his Japanese American (US citizen) mother was interned as a child. He’s actually LIVED discrimination, which is why he used his time as a lawyer to file – and win – class action lawsuits against major employers who practiced discrimination.
Bruce Harrell does not live in Bellevue. He never has. He bought a condo as an investment and rents it out. But hey, have you been to Bellevue lately anyway? There are more minorities in Bellevue than Seattle. But back to the point: you are simply wrong. Bruce lives in Seward Park, his daughter attends nearby Cleveland High School.
Why the attack on the Filipino Community Center as a venue? You got a problem with that? Filipinos are a large segment of our population. But there is a really basic fact: it’s the largest non-church facility in D-2 (outside the stadiums). Harrell obviously needed a large venue because the place was packed, well over capacity. Indeed, it was, exponentially, the largest campaign kickoff of any candidate or incumbent in Seattle this year.
So you are obviously upset that Harrell is endorsing someone other than Sawant. It might help if you knew there is actually a community-organizer connection between Sawant challenger Pamela Banks and Harrell. Decades before Sawant burst onto the political scene, Banks was working in the community; as head of the Urban League, she pulled the organization out of near bankruptcy. She and Bruce worked together then, and they work together now.
Harrell isn’t the only incumbent who wants someone other than the “all about me” Sawant.
You ask the question if socialism is too left for Harrell. I think the answer is that Harrell is a long-time DEMOCRAT, a DEMOCRAT Precinct Committee Officer, a major donor to the DEMOCRATIC Party – and not to the Socialist Party.
And since you are posting this on the DEMOCRATS Labor Caucus page, it’s important to note that he is also a former Teamster.
But keep on being a racist pig, with your cute little code words. Because if it’s one thing we don’t have enough of in Seattle, it’s fat, old white guys trying to act progressive. Maybe they think it’ll make up for their inborn privilege.
Well Allison, have you taken off your peeked KKK hat now? Or are you some other sort of bigot? It is hard to tell from the context but your tone suggests you could be a black bigot ..someone who thinks white=honkey? Or maybe an antisemite? But then .. all I have is your text. Do I need to do a melanin test to determine what sort of bigot you are? Would it make oyu feel better if I sais some of my best friends are as racist as you?
So, let make three things as clear as I can.
1. I have met an TREID to talk with Harrel about real issue affecting settle’s minorities .. our fucking, terrible, racist schools. He did not give a damn. To be blunt I also got the impression the man is not very smart, Maybe that is why he has never been a leader in the “POC” communities
2. I DETEST the term “people of color.” FWIW my ancestry id equal parts Maori. Cro Magnon and Jewish. What “color” does that make me? I have friends who are black irish .. are they honkeys in your world? Howsit that Japanese are POC when their country enforces race as a matter of law? Didja ever ask Kshama if she is Brahmin .. would that make her not be a POC? Are Arabian Shieks POC? While you are at oit, are Dravidians (Indians with a lot of K’san genome) POC?
3. WTF did you get the idea that I support Sawant. Are you illiterate as well as racist? The pice on TA clips her wings for he egotistical misuse of a great opportunity. I will select and work for any one of her opponents ,,, and I guarantee you I will not give a damn about how much melanin they have in their skin. . .
2.