Ethan Chu
[Editor's Note: Between the submission of this article by the journalist and its publication on the Latineer website, Andrew Yang had ended his campaign due to an unfavorable polling position on Election Night. As of publication, the final results of the mayoral race are still weeks away.]
Andrew Yang is currently one of the top candidates running for NYC’s mayoral seat. His rise in popularity was due to his running for the presidency, which helped gain traction in his political career. Along with this, his mission statement—which plans to modernize city services, provide affordable housing, unite our community, create smart policing, form a human-centered economy, and give out accessible healthcare to all—is promising towards the eyes of many. Even I would vote for him if I saw his mission statement, yet within his own campaign, there lies several serious issues. His own words have come up to haunt him, and the views that he’s shown in the past ultimately do not reflect what he stands for. These are the discrepancies within Andrew Yang and issues that might cause an upset within his own campaign.
The first issue at hand is the issue of policing. On February 5th, he chose to make a statement on Twitter concerning a recent anti-Asian hate crime on the subway. He stated that there needs to be more police present within subway stations and more police focused on anti-Asian hate crimes. The main issue isn't his intention of protecting the Asian community, but rather his lack of understanding behind the legacy of police violence against our communities within not just NYC but across America. In addition to his views on policing, he continues to support unreliable reforms for policing such as body cams—a supposed deterrent for cops to stop abusing their power, which in the case of George Floyd, did not deter police from committing cruel acts of violence. It seems as if he is blatantly ignoring the ongoing issues within the police force that many have been protesting about for countless years, and he instead chooses to spend valuable money that could have been used for affordable housing—a prevalent issue prominent due to the rise of COVID-19 and the loss of jobs.
Another issue within his whole campaign is that he shows a lack of respect towards the LGBTQ, Black, and Asian communities. The statements he has made towards each group have personally vilified some of them, steering his campaign completely in the wrong direction. During a Stonewall endorsement meeting that he hosted, he personally did not speak towards the issues present within the LGBTQ+ community such as homelessness, jobs, and affordable housing and instead proceeded to talk more on the topic of “gay bars,” a blatant disrespect and lack of care for the LGBTQ+ community. Towards Black and Asian individuals, he has made the following statements: “Venture for America, might simply not be the best fit for Black applicants'' and that Asian Americans, in order to prevent racism and hate crimes aimed towards them, needed to show their “American-ness”. As an individual who is Asian and a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it is hard for me to even ignore and try to justify the statements and ignorance he has made. You have to ask, at some point, if he truly cares for the people of NY as he has made these racist statements and blatantly disrespected many groups of individuals without issuing an apology.
Now the final nail in Andrew Yang’s coffin is his alignment with Israel on the ongoing issue of Palestinian and Israeli relations. There has been this continuous struggle between Israeli and Palestinian states, which dates back to the end of the 19th century when the United Nations tried to divide the mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, sparking the first Arab-Israeli war. I won't go into full details in this article since this issue is complex, but it is important to know that there have been ongoing attacks against Palestinians within their own country due to the Israeli Defense Force. Rubber bullets, stun grenades, attacks on mosques, as well as airstrikes were what these Palestinians had to face during this terrifying time. How can someone who is running for mayor support these actions? How can you support such bloodshed, such conflict especially when you are so against the idea of hate crimes to the point where you would continue to enforce restrictive policing? You cannot. And that is where his campaign has failed as many New Yorkers have taken to Instagram and other forms of social media to personally call out his campaign, even at one point “Anti-Yang” groups forming as a result of his actions.
As for how I feel personally, I think his campaign is flawed. His views do not stand for what he says and his lack of care and attention to these relevant issues within our community does not convince me that he is fit to be in the position of mayor. A mayor is someone who is able to encompass all the issues within our society, and propose relevant solutions that can solve these issues. How can Andrew Yang expect to do that when he has shown his lack of care for issues present within prevalent communities in New York? He does not fully grasp the issues that we New Yorkers are currently facing within our society, and it seems to me that he doesn’t really care about these issues as he has never fully addressed them in detail. It is for these reasons that explain why I believe Yang is not fit for the position of mayor. His discrepancies are a reflection of what he stands for, and ultimately do not showcase what he truly “intends” to change during his time as mayor.
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