Here's the lead paragraph of the Times news article about the preliminary election in the Boston mayoral race:
BOSTON — Two white men of Irish descent topped the balloting on Tuesday in the crowded race for mayor of Boston, dashing the hopes of many that this would be the year an African-American woman might have a shot at the top job in City Hall.
Is the most important thing to know about John Connolly and Martin Walsh really that they are "white men of Irish descent"? I live in Boston and have followed the mayoral election closely. If there were "many" who hoped that "this would be the year an African-American woman" would get elected mayor, not enough of them showed up to vote yesterday.
Anyway, the candidates have been talking about issues and substance, yet the Times persists in interpreting the race through a crude identity-politics lens. Who are the real racists? Boston voters, or Times editors and reporters who can't see past a candidate's skin color or national origin? The whole Times article goes on in the bizarre vein.