NEW YORK, N.Y. — Dogged by continuing racial tensions around her presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton drew a smattering of boos on Monday when she spoke at a religiously tinged Martin Luther King Jr. rally put together by a union organizing predominantly black security workers.
The catcalls came when Clinton was introduced and her speech drew only tepid applause compared to the boisterous ovations drawn by many of the pastors and reverends — not to mention a hip-hop artist and slam poet — who took the podium before her.
Her participation in the event drew nary a mention during nearly two hours of speeches, performances, prayers and acknowledgments. But she was a late addition to the event — SEIU Local 32BJ President Michael Fishman said he didn't know Clinton would be there until he arrived at the rally. The SEIU affiliate supports Clinton, though a union official stressed that the event was not a Clinton campaign rally.
The New York senator called on the roughly 2,500, mostly black attendees “to fulfill [King’s] unfinished dream and to live the legacy that we have inherited.†Some of her biggest applause came when she cited her rival for the Democratic nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who had his share of supporters at the event.
“How many of us ever dreamed that we would see the day when a woman and an African-American are running for the presidency of the United States of America?†Clinton asked, referring to herself and Obama.
Even though the event was billed as a rally for an SEIU affiliate celebrating King’s legacy and Clinton was a late-addition, the less-than-enthusiastic reception was still noteworthy. It took place in Clinton’s backyard and came as she is making extensive efforts to put the kibosh on the racially tinged controversy swirling around her campaign.
Black voters will be key in South Carolina’s pivotal Jan. 26 Democratic primary, in which they are expected to cast about half the ballots.
On Sunday, in a “Meet The Press†interview taped during a visit to Columbia, S.C., Clinton accused Obama of “deliberately distorting†her assertion that “it took a president†— Lyndon Johnson — to implement civil rights legislation King had advocated.
Clinton has repeatedly said her comments were taken out of context. On Monday, she told the crowd: “Both Sen. Obama and I know that we are where we are today because of leaders like Dr. King.â€
SEIU Local 32BJ represents more than 85,000 cleaners, doormen, porters, maintenance workers and window cleaners in the mid-Atlantic region.
Attendance was encouraged by prominent New York pastors including the Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood of St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, and the union, which gave members credit for attending that could be used to earn money for organizing activities.
The union endorsed Clinton last year, but Fishman didn’t mention her in an impassioned speech about the union’s effort to organize security workers.
New York Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks and Anthony Weiner, both of whom have also endorsed Clinton, touted the union’s efforts in speeches that didn’t mention Clinton.
Weiner, in fact, cited Obama’s campaign as emblematic of the progress toward racial equality since King’s assassination.
“Today we have an African-American standing to be president of the United States,†he said to loud applause.
It’s unclear if the boos stemmed from support for Obama, though random Politico.com interviews found as many Obama supporters and undecided voters as Clinton backers.
“I’m happy to have her, because I’m a member of 32BJ, but I’m supporting Sen. Obama,†said Elfatih Abusan, a 49-year-old maintenance worker, who traveled from his home in Washington, D.C., to the rally. “The people here did not open their hearts to her,†he said of Clinton.
“She’s all right,†said Eddie Davis, a 42-year-old union member from Brooklyn. He said he was still deciding between Clinton and Obama.
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