Leaders of Black Lives Matter's New York City chapter have promised to stage an "uprising" against the city's Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine requirements. They believe the vaccine passport and mandate are fundamentally racist, equating them to "modern-day freedom papers."
Hawk Newsome, one of the co-founders of the Greater New York chapter of Black Lives Matter, pointed out that, if a vaccine passport was instituted, it would disproportionately affect African Americans because more of them remain unvaccinated.
According to the latest data from the state of New York, around 85 percent of African Americans in the state remain unvaccinated. In New York City, around 64 percent of African Americans between the ages of 18 and 44 remain unvaccinated.
"It's not gonna be White men in suits on Wall Street who are gonna get stopped," said Newsome. "There's such hypocrisy in this thing."
"I think, in a perfect world, [vaccine requirements] should be business by business. But it could be a slippery slope, so the mandate should be removed completely," he added.
Newsome pointed out that Black Americans have "a natural distrust of the vaccine" because of a history of being experimented upon. He cited the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in which nearly 400 African Americans were purposely infected with syphilis to observe its effects when left untreated. None of the men were informed of the true nature of the experiment, and more than 100 of them died as a result.
Newsome also strongly criticized the fact that New York City's vaccine mandate does not recognize religious exemptions.
"How dare they remove exemptions? It's the most disrespectful thing I've ever seen," said Newsome. "Now the government has decided your god doesn't matter? I love God."
New York's vaccine mandate is "racist," says other BLM co-founder
Chivona Newsome, another co-founder of the Greater New York Chapter of Black Lives Matter and Hawk's sister, called the vaccine requirement racist.
"Although Mayor Bill de Blasio ran on progressive values, nothing in his tenure will attest to his campaign promises," said Chivona in a statement to Fox News. "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."
Chivona is referring to the papers held by African Americans in the late 18th and early 19th century that proved their non-slave status to government officials and slave catchers.
Chivona also accused De Blasio of failing to protect the African American residents of New York City. She claimed that the social distancing and mask mandates "resulted in Black New Yorkers being brutalized and arrested while their White neighbors received masks and refreshments."
"The vaccination mandates infringe upon the civil liberties of the Black community," said Chivona. "It's more than where we can dine or enjoy entertainment, it will result in loss of income … Black healthcare workers and educators will lose their jobs."
Chivona further accused De Blasio of being fully aware of the high rates of vaccine skepticism within the African American community. Despite knowing many African Americans will refuse to get vaccinated, he went ahead with these policies. She believes keeping the mandates will force African Americans into poverty and turn them into second-class citizens.
During a demonstration against the vaccine passports in Manhattan on Monday, Chivona warned that there will be an "uprising" if the vaccine passport and vaccination mandate policies are not rolled back. (Related: Anti-vaccine mandate "Freedom Rally" in NYC draws in thousands of supporters.)
"We're putting this city on notice that your mandate will not be another racist social distance practice," said Chivona during a demonstration on Monday. "Black people are not going to stand by, or you will see another uprising. And that is not a threat. That is a promise."
"The vaccination passport is not a free passport to racism," she added, vowing to protest the mandate until it is abolished.
Learn more about the impact of COVID-19 vaccination mandates and vaccine passport requirements on African Americans by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news.
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