Yorktown Dems Decry ‘Racist’ GOP Campaign Mailer
Yorktown Democratic candidates and supporters gathered outside Town Hall Monday evening to denounce a Republican campaign mailer that they maintained spread racism and lies.
The mailer, paid for by the New York Republican State Committee, hit mailboxes in town last week. On one side it depicts former Supervisor and Councilwoman Susan Siegel striking a marionette pose with Democratic supervisor candidate Ilan Gilbert, Councilman Vishnu Patel and former town clerk and council candidate Alice Roker dangling on strings.
Next to the photo it states, “Say No to the Frightful Four! Gilbert, Roker and Patel all support making Yorktown a sanctuary town. That means making Yorktown a safe haven for illegal immigrants causing your taxes to go up! How can we trust them to protect us when all they want is to protect them?”
On the opposite side of the placard is a photo of the Yorktown Republican slate, with the words: “Standing up for taxpayers…and Never taking a knee!”
Gilbert, a former town justice, said he was appalled by the blatant show of hate mongering in the piece. Patel, who is seeking a third term, called it “all lies,” while Roker quoted Maya Angelou, “When people show you who they are believe them.”
Democratic Committee co-chairs Elliot Krowe and Ron Stokes contended the racial and ethnic references in the mailer showing Siegel, a Jewish woman, manipulating a Jewish man (Gilbert), a black female (Roker) and an Indian man (Patel), along with including a yellow traffic hazard sign with black silhouettes of an immigrant couple running and dragging a toddler across the road, were clear.
“The racist, nativist, bigoted, intolerant, immigrant-bashing character of this lit piece was not lost on its Republican authors or publishers. It was not a mistake or an error in judgement. It was a purposeful, intentional and calculated effort to promote their ticket by appealing to a demographic that trades in these notions, that unmistakably hears these codes and whistles for what they are—Calls to ‘Blood and Soil,’” Krowe and Stokes stated.
Former Town Justice Marc Oxman said the mailer was the latest in a series of “dirty tricks,” referencing the change in polling for 2,400 residents who normally vote at Town Hall.
Several letter writers, such as Francine DiBernardo, reacted negatively to the mailer, stating, “I was disgusted by the New York Republican State Committee political literature I received in the mail on October 26. It contains blatant lies to attempt to scare and manipulate voters. It was the most racist, misogynist, untruthful thing I have ever seen in Yorktown and is an insult to the intelligence of voters.”
When contacted about the outcry from the mailer, Yorktown Republican Committee Chairman Matthew Slater stated in an email, “Yorktown voters have a right to know that if elected Ilan Gilbert, Alice Roker and Vishnu Patel will turn Yorktown into a sanctuary town.”
A sanctuary city is often described as a place that limits its cooperation with the federal government’s efforts to enforce immigration law.
Attempts to reach Grace, who is seeking a fourth two-year term on November 7, for comment were unsuccessful.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
