New York City

Vedat Gashi mailer in 16th Congressional District race shows Black opponent Rep. Jamaal Bowman with apparently darkened skin

While Gashi denies the charge, there’s a long history of political advertisements using altered skin tones – which studies say can influence voters’ perceptions of candidates.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman's flyer (left) and Vedat Gashi's flyer (right).

Rep. Jamaal Bowman's flyer (left) and Vedat Gashi's flyer (right). Jamaal Bowman for Congress; Vedat Gashi for Congress

With New York’s 16th Congressional District primary just a few weeks away, Rep. Jamaal Bowman is calling out challenger Vedat Gashi for distributing campaign material that features a photo of the Black, progressive representative with what appears to be a noticeably darker skin tone.

The Gashi campaign’s mailer, which was sent out to households in the northern Bronx and southern Westchester County district late last week, included a set of bullet points decrying Bowman’s congressional record and a photo that appears darker than its original version. The picture is poorly lit – so much so Bowman’s features are almost imperceptible. Contrasted against the representative’s own mailer – a well-lit photo of Bowman smiling and looking off into the distance set under the words “peace and love,” the presentation is particularly stark. The other side of Gashi’s mailer features a bright and colorful portrait of the Westchester County legislator’s family.

The frontside of Gashi’s flyer / Vedat Gashi for Congress

“To be Black in America is to deal with multiple forms of racism on a consistent basis. This is one of them,” Bowman said in a statement to City & State. “There is an ugly history behind facial distortion to spread hate and disdain for political purposes. This is why voters were angered. This is also why we introduced the African American History Act and the resolution to fight hate and antisemitism. The -isms and -phobias in America are killing us, and stopping us from reaching our potential as a country. We need to be better educated to stop the hate that’s eating our country and democracy alive.”

Gashi’s campaign said that the photo was not altered.

The original photo Gashi's campaign used for its flyer / Provided by Gashi campaign

“This is just another example of how the incumbent refuses to be held accountable for his failed record and prefers to spread lies instead,” Gashi’s campaign manager Daniel Johnson said in a statement to City & State. “Rather than playing petty and performative politics, Vedat is focused on doing everything he can to help the families of the Bronx and Westchester.”

Gashi, who came to the U.S. as a refugee when his parents fled Kosovo, has positioned himself as a moderate alternative to Bowman and touted what he describes as his ability to bridge differences within the Democratic Party. The recent redistricting shuffled voter dynamics in the district. According to data from the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center, the new district is 20.5% Black – a 9 percentage point decrease from the previous district. White residents make up 40% of the new district, up from 33%, and Hispanics make up 29% and Asians 7%.

While it’s not unusual for candidates to try and cast their opponents in a skewed light to influence voter perception, there’s a long, ugly history of political campaigns’ releasing materials that include images of their Black opponents with noticeably darkened skin tones.

Research indicates that when voters are learning about a non-white canidates’s personal background, sutble changes in their skin complexion can have an effect on how they perceive that candidate. And racial messages – whether they be implicit or explicit – have long been present in political campaigns. 

In 2020, Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham came under fire for sharing a digitally altered image of his opponent Jamie Harrison in a campaign ad. Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler ran a Facebook ad in 2021 that visibly darkened the skin of her challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock. And a study published in 2015 found that darkened images of former President Barack Obama were often tied to negative ads run by then-Republican nominee John McCain’s campaign during the 2008 presidential election. In New York, Rep. Yvette Clarke’s reelection campaign sparked backlash after her progressive challenger Adem Bunkeddaeko accused her of sending out mail that also darkened his skin in 2020. Clarke, who is also Black, denied the charge.

Basil Smikle, a Black political strategist and former executive director of the state Democratic Party, said candidates have used skin tones in ads to scare white voters for years in hopes of mobilizing them against Black candidates. On the flip side, magazines and media entities have also long been guilty of lightening Black skin tones.

“Both of those extremes – the darkening and the lightening – are meant to feed into stereotypes and caricatures of Black people,” he said.

While the Gashi campaign mailer might not rise to the level of some of the more egregious examples, his campaign declined to comment on why that particular image was the one they selected even if it wasn’t digitally altered like they say.

“Any candidate and consultant should be mindful of the racial history and sensitivity to skin tones and the stereotypes behind that,” Smikle said. “There’s no place for this in our political dialogue. I don’t care whether you’re Democrat or Republican – any consultant or candidate should do better at understanding the racial political sensitivities to skin tone.”

Tara L. Martin, a political consultant and member of City & State’s advisory board, said it's disappointing when political candidates side step focusing solely on policy and instead draw on harmful stereotypes that dehumanize Black candidates. Falling back on the “lowest common denominator” by adding a level of connotation that is incendiary, she said, is a sign of a weak campaign.

“It’s not just what we verbalize, but how we intentionally decide to communicate with others. As a dark-skinned Black woman, I am all too familiar with the sting of these connotations, whether intentional or not.  From Emmit Till and Willie Horton to Barack Obama and Ilhan Omar, we have to directly confront and break apart these deeply rooted oppressive systems,” Martin said. “It's my hope that this incident can become a teachable moment for Gashi. Political candidates who continue to utilize these failed covert scare tactics need to understand what those connotations mean and how harmful they are for our broader communities.”

The progressive Bowman has been facing a serious challenge in his first bid for reelection. Gashi was endorsed this week by former Rep. Nita Lowey as well as former Rep. Eliot Engel, who Bowman unseated in 2020. While Bowman had outraised Gashi over the cycle, the challenger actually had more money on hand than the incumbent as of the latest filing on June 30 – $551,000 to $426,000. Also in the Democratic primary is Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker. News 12 reported that the fourth candidate on the ballot, Mark Jaffe, dropped out on Sunday and endorsed Gashi. 

– with reporting by Jeff Coltin

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.