New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) was a prominent member of the New York Police Department before entering politics, and now a comment he made a couple of years ago about some of his fellow NYPD officers has landed him in hot water.
A video recently emerged of Adams referring to his white NYPD colleagues with the racial slur “crackers” during a 2019 political speech in advance of his mayoral campaign, Fox News reported.
For what it is worth, the new mayor — who many hoped would be better than his openly socialist and constantly race-baiting predecessor, Bill de Blasio — apologized profusely and acknowledged how “inappropriate” that slur was when called on it by a reporter this week.
Racial slur from future mayor caught on camera
The video clip comes from a 2019 speech Adams delivered to the predominately black audience at the Harlem Business Alliance to discuss his plans for helping minority- and women-owned small businesses in the city if elected as mayor, and during that speech he had used the racial slur to describe the white officers he had competed against for promotion in the NYPD.
“Every day in the police department, I kicked those crackers’ a–, man. I was unbelievable in the police department,” Adams boasted in terms of being a black officer promoted up in the ranks.
“I became a sergeant, a lieutenant, and a captain — you know the story,” he continued. “Some people oversell it trying to reinvent me, but the reality is: what I was then is who I am now.”
Mayor apologizes for “inappropriate comments”
Mayor Adams issued an apology for previously making use of that racial slur against white people when he was asked about it while taking questions alone after a press conference Friday with others to announce a new initiative focused on city parks.
LIVE NOW AT CITY HALL: @NYCMayor makes a major announcement for @NYCParks! https://t.co/BmFW4vWTtA
— NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) February 4, 2022
Asked if he wanted to apologize or provide additional context for the remarks deemed offensive by some, Adams replied, “Definitely apologize. Inappropriate. Inappropriate comments. Should not have been used.”
“Someone asked me a question using that comment and, playing on that word, I responded in that comment,” the mayor explained. “But clearly, it is a comment that should not be used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it, but to New Yorkers because they should expect more from me and that was inappropriate.”
The mayor, in response to a follow-up question, added as some additional context that the remark had been about his constant battle against departmental racism throughout his career, and while that may be an acceptable explanation to some, it certainly isn’t an excuse, and it is good that he saw fit to apologize instead of just dismissing or even defending his use of the anti-white slur.
