"Biracial Gag Response" In Pictures: A Little Jenga For the 13%

I know I’m a few days late putting getting this down in pixels. Still, as soon as I read about Richard Cohen’s somatic disparagement of the de Blasio’s and biracial families (the money quote; the offending column; the go-to response), my mind grabbed two, well actually, three pictures at once.

The first was the wonderful backstage family shot above by Damon Winter at the de Blasio victory party.

The second was the popular “Jenga shot” of the Romney clan waiting for Mitt’s Denver debate with Obama to start. I’m pretty sure the glue that connected Cohen to Romney in my head was the Gallup 13% biracial disapproval stat being bandied around married to Mitt’s self-inflicted brouhaha over America’s deluded 47%. (Love the flag up there, by the way. And the Coke. And the Crayolas.)

It’s this second Winter photo from the slideshow, however, that I’m most interested in. Here’s the caption:

The family backstage with, from right, the actress Cynthia Nixon; her wife, Christine Marinoni; and the actress Susan Sarandon.

If it’s tempting to dangle it in front of the 13% like a red cape, it’s a lot more interesting than that. On a larger scale, even looking back just a year or so, it’s a marker of how far inclusivity has evolved.

(photo 1 & 3: Damon Winter/The New York Times via slideshow: Closing In: A Campaign’s Final Hours. caption: Family members and supporters unwinding backstage. Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, won with 73 percent of the vote. photo 2: Garrett Jackson/Twitter. 3 Oct 2012. caption: Backstage with family playing jenga.)