Who Is The “Public”...?

As a young man, I joined the NYPD because I'd experienced police violence firsthand and knew that the system needed to change.

I’m a believer in police reform -- but I believe in public safety, too. And I know that you can’t have one without the other.https://t.co/tl9BdNEbY9

— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) April 10, 2021

...in “public safety”?

I’m not challenging Eric Adams, but it’s fairly clear he has to accept who the “public” is in discussing “public safety.” And it’s not people who look like him.

The Generation Gap is back, and it’s between old white men terrified of a future which they won’t dominate by being white men, and anyone younger than them (but mostly the Millenials). The ground has shifted out from under the elders, and they don’t like it.

Maybe someday the “public” will include everyone. But that day is not today. And the realization of that reality is our fundamental problem.

Although an “old man” understands:

"Often, when we consider the costs of policies to deal with the mess that racism has made in many aspects of American life, we think about the costs of the change — not what we’re paying in the status quo." https://t.co/P83hzQxORL

— POLITICO Magazine (@POLITICOMag) April 11, 2021