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New York Black Lives Matter Leader Denounces De Blasio’s Vaccine Mandate as ‘Racist’

One of the most prominent leaders in the far-left Black Lives Matter movement publicly spoke out against the newly-implemented vaccine mandate in New York City, decrying the move by Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-N.Y.) as “racist,” according to Breitbart.

Chivona Newsome, along with her older brother Hawk Newsome, is one of the cofounders of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York. In a statement to Fox News, Chivona said that “Although Mayor Bill de Blasio ran on progressive values, nothing in his tenure will attest to his campaign promises. The September 13th vaccine mandate is racist and specifically targets black New Yorkers.” She went on to describe the “vaccination passports” as “modern-day Freedom Papers, which limit the free will of black people.” Newsome did not provide any evidence to back up her assertion that the mandate is meant to target black New Yorkers in particular.

“The vaccination mandates infringe upon the civil liberties of the black community,” she continued. “It’s more than where we can dine or enjoy entertainment; it will result in a loss of income.” De Blasio, Newsome says, “chose to disenfranchise and force the very people who elected him into poverty and second-class citizenship.”

African-Americans are the only major demographic in the state of New York that has a smaller percentage of vaccinated individuals compared to its share of the overall population; although African-Americans account for 17 percent of all residents of the state of New York, they make up only about 14 percent of all vaccinated individuals in the state. Newsome says 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,” but chose to implement the mandate anyway.

De Blasio, who is term-limited out of office next year, implemented the highly controversial mandate on September 13th. The mandate applies to all businesses and establishments in the city, including private ones, and demands that all indoor businesses require proof of vaccination before allowing customers to enter, among other measures. Businesses that fail to comply could be faced with fines of up to $5,000, and on September 20th, the mayor’s office announced that it had issued warnings to over 3,200 noncompliant businesses in the first week alone.

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About Eric Lendrum

Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. He has interned for Young America’s Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and the White House, and has worked for numerous campaigns including the 2018 re-election of Congressman Devin Nunes (CA-22). He is currently a co-host of The Right Take podcast.

Photo: (Photo by EuropaNewswire/Gado/Getty Images)