Hillary Clinton's new campaign video makes Brooklyn look really white

By Fusion Staff  |  May 15, 2015 | 10:36pm
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On Thursday, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton posted a video to her Facebook page. The opening slate reads, “So how do Brooklyn residents feel about their new neighbor?” In it, Hillary is super excited about being in Brooklyn, and Brooklyn looks super excited to have her in it.

The video was filmed during an unscheduled walk through Brooklyn Heights, the site of Clinton’s 2016 headquarters, after the candidate visited staffers there. “Brooklyn is vibrant and diverse, just like our campaign, and we’re thrilled to be here,” a campaign spokesperson said.

Clinton’s camp says the people in the video are simply the ones Clinton happened to run into. Of course, one walk around Brooklyn Heights doesn’t reflect the entirety of Brooklyn, as the title card and references to “Brooklyn, USA,” might suggest.

Here’s how Brooklyn is represented in Clinton’s video:

Based on my highly unscientific headcount, there are about ten people of color in Hillary Clinton’s Brooklyn—and a few of those aren’t even old enough to vote. I tried to count the white people, but I lost count.

Here are the video’s most prominently featured people of color:

Here are some less prominently featured people of color.

The demographics of Brooklyn are shifting, and white people keep moving in, especially to neighborhoods like the one the video was shot in.

But Brooklyn is still 35% black, 20% Latino, and 11% Asian or Pacific Islander.

The video ends on this note: “Brooklyn Thanks for the warm welcome!”

OK, but, like, what about the rest of Brooklyn?

UPDATE: This story was updated to reflect comments from Clinton’s campaign.

Collier Meyerson is a reporter at Fusion with a focus on race and politics. She lives in Brooklyn.

 
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