New York Mayor Bill De Blasio Says Giuliani ‘Misunderstands The Reality’ Of Race

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared on ABC’s This Week Sunday and responded to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s assertions that “responsibility is on the black community” for reducing the need for a police presence in their communities. De Blasio said Guiliani did not understand the situation, as quoted by The Atlantic.

“I think he fundamentally misunderstands the reality. There is a problem here. There is a rift here that has to be overcome. You cannot look at the incident in Missouri; another incident in Cleveland, Ohio; and another incident in New York City all happening in the space of weeks and act like there’s not a problem. There’s something fundamental we have to get at here. And it’s not going to be helped by accusing either the community or the police of having bad intention or not doing their job. In fact, I think everyone is trying to do their job.”

As The Guardian reported, De Blasio also said he respected the grand jury process, with emphasis on the word “process,” and said he would cooperate with a federal investigation into whether Eric Garner’s civil rights were violated. He went on to say, “I’d talk about what we have to do to fix the relationship between police and the community… As an executive in public service, I think it’s important to respect the judicial process.”

De Blasio also elaborated on comments he made earlier this week about his own son, and how he and his wife have advised him to interact with police officers. De Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, is African-American.

“It’s different for a white child. That’s just the reality in this country. And with Dante, very early on with my son, we said, look, if a police officer stops you, do everything he tells you to do, don’t move suddenly, don’t reach for your cell phone, because we knew, sadly, there’s a greater chance it might be misinterpreted if it was a young man of color.”

“I’m just saying what people are actually experiencing and have been for decades. I’ve talked to a lot of families of color, well before this time, because I’ve said things like this before. And they’ve said to me over and over and over again that they appreciate someone finally acknowledging that they have that conversation with their sons. It’s a painful conversation. You can sense there’s a contradiction in that conversation.”

Bill de Blasio became New York’s 109th mayor in 2013. He is a graduate of New York University and Columbia.

[Image: Bloomberg News via Crain’s New York]