David Dinkens' legacy narrative has largely been written by his political opponents - ie, the Rudy Giuliani Republicans, ADL and allied groups, and the NYC police union (NYC PBA). Unfortunately, Mayor Dinkins lost control of his own story early on in his single term as Mayor. I don't think it helps Zohran Mamdani very much to use David Dinkens as a metaphor for his own campaign to be NYC's Mayor.
Interestingly, when Mandami won the primary, Chat GPT said he would be the first socialist mayor in NYC history., ignoring Dinkins. They've now corrected it and portray it pretty accurately
Agree that the Dinkins legacy got written by his opponents, so he left pretty unpopular, but his tenure proves the point that none of the predictions of doom came true.
Love this. And yet, I think it's time and past time that modern democratic socialists update their language to reflect current ideas. In Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other successful countries who have consistently elected and re-elected progressive governments but who hate the former USSR and it's terminology, they call themselves "Social Democrats,' not socialists. Labels and language matter. The right has spent decades darkening the term 'socialism,' and you're not going to erase the stain by feeding into it. We need to claim our values loudly and proudly, without being mistaken for something very 19th and early 20th century.
David Dinkens' legacy narrative has largely been written by his political opponents - ie, the Rudy Giuliani Republicans, ADL and allied groups, and the NYC police union (NYC PBA). Unfortunately, Mayor Dinkins lost control of his own story early on in his single term as Mayor. I don't think it helps Zohran Mamdani very much to use David Dinkens as a metaphor for his own campaign to be NYC's Mayor.
Interestingly, when Mandami won the primary, Chat GPT said he would be the first socialist mayor in NYC history., ignoring Dinkins. They've now corrected it and portray it pretty accurately
https://chatgpt.com/c/68aca0b7-c66c-8321-a693-61970b774fef
Agree that the Dinkins legacy got written by his opponents, so he left pretty unpopular, but his tenure proves the point that none of the predictions of doom came true.
Love this. And yet, I think it's time and past time that modern democratic socialists update their language to reflect current ideas. In Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other successful countries who have consistently elected and re-elected progressive governments but who hate the former USSR and it's terminology, they call themselves "Social Democrats,' not socialists. Labels and language matter. The right has spent decades darkening the term 'socialism,' and you're not going to erase the stain by feeding into it. We need to claim our values loudly and proudly, without being mistaken for something very 19th and early 20th century.