NY BLM Leader: De Blasio’s ‘Vaccine Mandate Is Racist and Specifically Targets Black New Yorkers’

One of the leaders of Black Lives Matter’s Greater New York chapter slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio for the city’s vaccine mandate, explaining the “mandate is racist and specifically targets black New Yorkers,” in a statement to Fox News.

Chivona Newsome cofounded the Greater New York Chapter of Black Lives Matter and ran as a congressional candidate for New York’s 15th district in the 2020 election. The former Congressional candidate blasted de Blasio’s vaccine mandate in a statement to Fox News.

“Although Mayor Bill De Blasio ran on progressives values, nothing in his tenure will attest to his campaign promises,” Newsome explained to Fox. “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.”

“The vaccination mandates infringe upon the civil liberties of the Black community,” she told Fox. “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.”

She explained in her statement that 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 told Fox News. De Blasio “chose to disenfranchise and force the very people who elected him into poverty and second-class citizenship,” according to Newsome. 

“Black Lives Matter” New York co-founder Chivona Newsome leads protesters as they demonstrate in Times Square over the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on June 7, 2020 in New York. – (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)

In looking at the population of New York as a state, black citizens account for 17.6 percent of the population according to the U.S. Census Bureau, yet black New Yorkers make up only 14 percent of the share of vaccinated individuals in the state, per data compiled by KFF.

The trend is eye-popping in comparison to that of whites, Hispanics, and Asians.

Population-wise, whites account for 69.9 percent of the state’s population as reported by the Census Bureau, while whites tally 69 percent of the share of vaccinated individuals per KFF.

Similarly, the Census Bureau reports that Hispanics makeup 19.3 percent of the population, yet hold 20.9 percent of the state’s vaccination share according to KFF.

Finally, Asian New Yorkers represent 9 percent of the overall population per data from the Census Bureau and account for a staggering 15 percent of the state’s total vaccination share according to KFF’s data. 

The cofounder of New York’s Black Lives Matter chapter is concerned vaccine mandates will become “a free pass to racism” and she promises to advocate against the mandate until it is “abolished,” according to her statement to Fox News.

It is the duty of Black Lives Matter Greater NY to fight for the liberty of Black people,” Newsome explained to Fox. “The vaccination passport will not be a free pass to racism. Our organization pledges to demonstrate until the vaccine mandate is abolished.”

De Blasio’s mandate went into action the week of September 13 and ordered indoor establishments to require proof of vaccination before allowing patrons to enter inside. The mandate also requires workers of certain establishments to provide proof of vaccination. Businesses can face fines of up to $5,000 for failing to comply with the order and de Blasio’s office announced September 20 it issued warnings to 3,200 businesses that did not comply with the order during the first week of implementation.

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