New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends a press conference on gun violence at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner on June 26, 2023, in New York City. | Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty
New York City Mayor Eric Adams—the ex-cop who has, at least twice, thrown arbitrary shade at the Black Lives Matter movement following violent crime that had literally nothing to do with BLM spiked in the city he’s in charge of—has now essentially played what fragile white conservatives refer to as “the race card” in response to a white woman at a Wednesday town hall meeting who might have been a tad aggressive while questioning him about rent increases in his city.
Now, to be fair to the citizen who was concerned about the way her rent keeps trending upward, I’m not sure many white people quite understand how disrespectful the act of pointing one’s finger in a person’s face, even from across a room, is considered in the Black community. It’s big glove slap energy. It’s that “pistols at dawn” level of disrespect. It’s the body language version of, “You’re skating on thin ice, buddy!” (I’m just trying really hard to make this relatable to white people.) So, the woman probably wasn’t expecting the mayor of NYC to essentially call her a slave owner right to her face, but maybe she learned to watch what she does with her hands when speaking passionately to melanated folks.
“First, if you’re going to ask a question don’t point at me, and don’t be disrespectful to me,” Adams said. “I’m the mayor of this city and treat me with the respect I deserve to be treated (with). I’m speaking to you as an adult. Don’t stand in front like you treated someone that’s on the plantation that you own.” (You can tell he was dangerously close to calling her a “Karen” right there on the spot.)
“Give me the respect I deserve and engage in a conversation…treat me with the same level of respect I treat you,” he continued. “So don’t be pointing at me, don’t be disrespectful to me, speak to me as an adult because I’m a grown man. I walked into this room as a grown man and I’m going to walk out of this room as a grown man.”
So, listen: On one hand, Black people know it isn’t uncommon for white people to speak to Black people in condescending and belligerent ways they certainly wouldn’t speak to their own, especially not a white person in a position of authority. On the other hand, people who are struggling to pay their rent tend to have an “anybody can get it” attitude and will go all the way off on anyone they think is even indirectly responsible for their rent checks doing increased damage to their bank accounts.
At any rate, I just know Adams—the BLM-hating ex-cop who believes Jordan Neely was “assisted” with the chokehold that killed him—isn’t out here trying to be an aggrieved victim of racism when it suits him.
Nah—calm down, bro. You don’t get to go full Malcolm X once you’re under fire when you know you’re more like Tim Scott every other day of the week.
Nope. Keep that same energy.
SEE ALSO:
Jordan Neely’s Family Calls Out NYC Mayor Eric Adams: ‘You Can’t Assist Someone With A Chokehold’
NYC Mayor Defends NYPD Cop Who Punched Woman’s Face On Video: He ‘Showed Great Restraint’
