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The @GlobeOpinion’s endorsement of Jake Auchincloss is extremely irresponsible. I have enormous respect for the quality of journalism at the Boston Globe, and am hesitant to criticize newspapers in this moment. 1/
For weeks now, the Ed Board has been writing in support of Black Lives Matter and bold police reform. Their choice to endorse Jake, who has a history of insensitive, racist comments, completely contradicts that work. 2/
Just 3 years ago, Jake compared the Confederate flag to a BLM flag and Pride flag. Last month, a Black student in Newton wrote that “no individual” has made him feel more “unsafe” than Jake Auchincloss. That alone should be disqualifying. 3/
For this racist behavior to be dismissed as “tone-deaf” is exactly the type of apologist rhetoric that has hindered progress in this country for so long. People of color have consistently been told that they should just get over comments like his. 4/
Too often, white men -- especially those with substantial wealth -- are extended grace at the expense of Black, brown and indigenous people. At this moment we have a responsibility to do better.
Especially as a white man committed to anti-racist action, I have to speak up. 5/
Especially as a white man committed to anti-racist action, I have to speak up. 5/
This endorsement is the product of a failed system that has gone unconfronted, even at home. Systemic racism looks like a white man with privilege making racist comments, never truly apologizing, and receiving an endorsement from one of the foremost publications in our country.6/
We also have to note the hypocrisy here. The Globe Editorial Board has written extensively about the existential threat of climate change. Today, they endorsed Jake Auchincloss, who is being supported by fossil fuel money, as well as a SuperPAC funded by his parents. 7/
Again, I’m uncomfortable criticizing the Globe, a publication I’ve subscribed to my whole life. But it’s time to get comfortable being uncomfortable. This is a moment of reckoning in this country where we all have to do things differently. 8/
These are not the words of someone who is complaining just because I did not get the Globe endorsement. There are other worthy candidates in this race, people I am honored to call co-candidates.
Jake is not one of them. 9/
Jake is not one of them. 9/
Jake says he is not “proud of every single thing” he said or did when he was 22. When I was 22, I was teaching 4th grade in the S. Bronx. I saw a system that had failed my students before they ever set foot in the classroom—it's why I entered public service in the first place.10/
2020 is not the year to stay silent. And as the candidate who has dedicated his career to public service, I’m ready to tackle these issues. 11/
