Dawn Crawford vs San Bernardino's Dirty County Politicians and  Officials

Race Alone Is Never A Good Reason To Seek Public Office

It was reported a couple of weeks ago that San Bernardino County School Board member, Gil Navarro stated that race relations between Blacks and Latinos was bad enough for him to seek office to the Assembly. He said he had a good chance of winning in the district because the largely Latino population that resides in the district was greater than the Black population. Gil believes that Latinos would support him over Wilmer "Amina" Carterbased on race. Now we all know that every race and ethnic group has a few who make decisions based on these reasons but most voters are looking for someone with the skills and ability to serve and deliver on behalf of the general public.

Nationally, we have Barack Obama seeking the Democratic Party nomination for president and the people who are voting for him are multicultural and come from every tier of the socio-economic ladder. And, for the record his national field director is Temo Figueroa, a Latino from Riverside, with whom I worked with at the late Congressman George Brown's office. I know many Latinos, Whites and Blacks that are working on Obama's campaign from California and are just returning from Texas today. If Obama was seeking the office based on race regardless of his skills and ability to inspire people, he would not be enjoying the lead nor would he be getting the support from a majority of the Black community. Our history and existence in America has made us coalition builders on issues starting with seeking freedom with Whites, Indians, and the countries of Mexico and Canada.

 Statewide, just this week we had outgoing Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez support Karen Bass of Los Angeles to replace him as Speaker of the State Assembly, the second most powerful position in California's government. There were nine others seeking the position and some were Latino, but Nunez supported Bass. Speaker Nunez said: "We are going to not only write a new chapter in California history, but I've been told we're going to write a new chapter in American history by electing the first African American woman in the history of this nation to be Speaker of a state legislative body." Karen said in her first news briefing with members of the California Black Media that her getting the Speakership would not have happened without Speaker Nunez. "He encouraged me to run and got others to vote for me as well," Bass stated. This is another statement that runs counter to Gil's notion that people do things just on race and speaks volumes to the belief that you have to be able to deliver the service.

Locally, Wilmer "Amina" Carter was elected to the Assembly because a multicultural coalition voted for her and are lining up to do so again this year. Why? Because she has the skills, education and ability to articulate our collective needs in Sacramento and to deliver services to our district. If she had undertook this task as a race task,she would not have gotten mine nor many other supporters. Her staff that serves us is multicultural and reflects the districts racial composition. We have San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales hosting a kick-off reception for her second term, and guests who are going to be there supporting her effort: Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod and Assembly Member Wilmer "Amina" Carter. Acquanetta Warren, the only Black city council member in Fontana and a Republican, and Josie Gonzales, a Democrat, are like sisters even though they do not agree on every issue but always on what is right for the people they represent. When Rikke Van Johnson sought re-election in the city of San Bernardino it was Josie Gonzales and Mayor Pat Morris who stepped up and supported him. In the city of Riverside when Andy Melendrez sought his seat on the city council to replace Ameal Moore, it was a Black, White and Latino coalition that supported his election. Recently at the Riverside NAACP Banquet, it was a racially mixed crowd with Community College Trustee Member Mary Figueroa, standing side by side with Riverside NAACP President, Waudier Rucker Hughes, to make it successful. It was this diversity of citizens who gathered to say thank you to a diversity of leaders for providing service to our community regardless of the recipient's color.

Now I know that we have some people who will vote for a person based on the color of one's skin or gender. I know some people will say that they don't know either person  seeking office, so they will vote based on their last name but we have too many positive examples of Blacks and Hispanics working together to allow Gil to make this statement. It is incumbent upon the person seeking office to at least give the impression that they are going to represent all of their constituents. It is also incumbent upon the office seeker to say why they are seeking office other than their racial identity.

I am reminded of an old tuna commercial where "Charlie the Tuna" thought that he should be caught by the fisherman but each time they would toss him back into the sea because he did not meet the standards of good tuna. The commercial would end by saying "Sorry Charlie". Well the same is true for you Gil, find another reason to seek office other than race.