Michael Bloomberg Is No Mayor Of Mine

According to the Huffington Post:

“The NYPD made 533,042 stops last year, 87 percent of which were of blacks and Latinos.

The city’s highest officials have turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner,” U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin wrote in her ruling in the historic class-action lawsuit, Floyd v. City of New York. “In their zeal to defend a policy that they believe to be effective, they have willfully ignored overwhelming proof that the policy of targeting ‘the right people’ is racially discriminatory.”

In response to the ruling, Bloomberg said, “It’s a dangerous decision made by a judge who doesn’t understand how policing works.” Funny, I don’t recall seeing a law degree or certificate from the police academy on the list of Bloomie’s credentials. His arrogance is truly astounding.

This man may be the mayor of New York City, but he is not my mayor. He does not speak to or for me as a Black woman. He does not speak to or for me as a sister with young Black brothers, who are likely to fall victim to his policies if he has his way. He does not speak to or for me as the daughter of a proud Black man who volunteers his time to educate young brown men about the importance of education and fatherhood. He does not speak to or for me as a future Black mother who will have to prepare her children for the undue scrutiny of police officers trained to believe that they are the roots of criminality and therefore need to be frisked to prevent some inevitable crime.

I can only hope that the ruling for monitoring of the NYPD is upheld and this racially biased system of stop and frisk is overturned. In the meantime, I’m anxiously awaiting November when that man that some of y’all call mayor is out of that office for good.