Dante de Blasio has not showed up in person yet on the campaign trail with his father. But in a column in USA Today, he thrust himself into the political fray, building on an issue his dad, Mayor Bill de Blasio, raised in the first presidential debate:

"For the last 21 years I've been raising a black son in America, and I have had to have very, very serious talks with my son Dante about how to protect himself on the streets of our city and all over this country, including how to deal with the fact that he has to take special caution because there's been too many tragedies between our young men and our police, too," de Blasio said Wednesday in Miami.

• De Blasio Weighs in on Policing and Race in America

In his op-ed, Dante wrote he was scared to interact with police.

"We're taught to fear the people meant to protect us, because the absolute worst-case scenario has happened too many times," Dante wrote.

"I think he wrote from the heart," the mayor said Monday in his weekly "Mondays with the Mayor" interview on Inside City Hall. "We talked about it and he decided it was something he wanted to put out there at this moment."

De Blasio was being interviewed from Chicago, where he appeared at Jesse Jackson's "Rainbow Push" convention, and spoke about reforming the NYPD.

"I wanted people to know that real change can happen," de Blasio said.

So do parents in New York City still have to talk to their black sons about how to handle the police?

"I honestly believe, as a father, that we have come a long way in New York City," the mayor told Errol Louis. "Until we make even more progress, I'm sure there are parents who still feel they need to have that conversation."

The mayor, meanwhile, is staying quiet about his presidential fundraising, refusing to divulge in advance how much he has raised so far.

"When we make our formal filing is when we will talk about it," he said.

• What to Know About Bill de Blasio as He Runs for President

Other candidates have gone public with their numbers, but not the mayor.

"The bottom line to me is, am I able to get my message out? Am I able to keep building my campaign?" de Blasio said.

• De Blasio Defends 'Vision Zero' After the Death of Another Cyclist

Money is essential to any presidential campaign, but so far de Blasio is running with only a small team of paid advisors supporting him. But he is using his platform as mayor of the largest city in the country to his advantage.

------

Looking for an easy way to learn about the issues affecting New York City?

Listen to our "Off Topic/On Politics" podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | RSS