New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is being criticized over the vaccine mandate and passport process in the city, while a Black Lives Matter leader calls them “modern day freedom papers”.
Chivona Newsome, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Greater NY, gave a statement to Fox News where she called the mandate “racist”.
“The September 13th vaccine mandate is racist and specifically targets Black New Yorkers. The vaccination passports are modern day Freedom Papers, which limit the free will of Black people”, she stated.
Newsome said De Blasio has failed “to protect New York’s most vulnerable” during the pandemic, claiming that the ‘social distancing and mask requirements resulted in Black New Yorkers being brutalized and arrested while their White neighbors received masks and refreshments”.
She also claimed the mandates “infringe upon the civil liberties of the Black community”.
It’s more than where we can dine or enjoy entertainment, it will result in loss of income. As of Monday, September 27, Black health care workers and educators will lose their jobs.
Chivona Newsome
Newsome said De Blasio is “fully aware of the hesitancy and distrust people of African descent have about vaccination and their interactions with government and law enforcement”. She added that he still “chose to disenfranchise and force the very people who elected him into poverty and second-class citizenship”.
Newsome explained that BLM Greater NY will continue to fight until the vaccine mandate is “abolished”. She also said she will work to prevent the mandate from becoming “a free pass to racism”. “Our organization pledges to demonstrate until the vaccine mandate is abolished”, she added.
BLM recently held a demonstration outside the popular Carmine’s Italian Restaurant after three black women were denied entry to the restaurant, reportedly over vaccine cards.