A race well-run:
Chapter lauds Ruth Messinger
Dear Ruth:
I have a compelling need to express to you what I feel is your outstanding accomplishment in your run for Mayor of New York. There is so much more to your effort than the win-lose outcome; there are essential standards against which your candidacy should be measured.
As a social worker you share with all of us a deep concern and commitment to people and issues that some segments of our society want to marginalize. Being marginalized makes our work incredibly more difficult; our work is hard enough as it is.
What you accomplished, over 20 years in public office, and then most incredibly during your run for Mayor, was to confront the most difficult challenges. Where some of us might be cautious, taking care not to raise our voices or push too far... even walk away, you stood tall and moved forward.
When the New York Times, New York 1 and many other media chose to convey to the public that your campaign was stumbling, you firmly insisted that the proper focus should be the issues you were raising. They tried to shame you and your supporters, thereby all of us, but you grew stronger and clearer.
In the 18 years that I have known you, including as my teacher at Hunter, I always expected you to become Mayor. This may not be about to happen, but you have empowered every social worker who has taken the time to contemplate what one social worker accomplished.
For this the social work profession owes you one resounding "thank you".
Sincerely,
Robert S. Schachter, D.S.W., A.C.S.W.
Executive Director
November 6, 1997