Reference no: EM133300413

Article: Mayor Adams knows that for gun violence to end in New York City, black and brown people must stop shooting and killing other black and brown people.I MAY not be the church-going type, but I certainly know a sermon when I hear one - and Eric Adams has been doing an awful lot of sermonizing since assuming office Dec. 31. Of course, with his focus on gun violence and postpandemic recovery - rather than education reform and economic inequality - Adams' preaching sounds far different from that of his predecessor. But what's most different about Adams is his message and his audience: Accountability in the black community.

Few topics are more taboo for white politicians - even a white politico with a black wife and black children, like Bill De Blasio - than asking African Americans for a bit of self-reflection. But it's actually an everyday occurrence among black folks themselves, particularly in the African-American church, whose lofty oratory style Adams often invokes when facing the press.

Take the aftermath of the fatal double shooting of police officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora in late January in Harlem. Flanked by a mostly African-American supporting cast - including New York's first-ever female Police Commissioner, Keechant Sewell - Adams' press conference offered a stark rebuke to policedefunding progressives who've dominated law enforcement conversations since the death of George Floyd nearly two years ago.

Instead, Adams issued a call to action that was clearly intended as a rallying cry for his own community, who bear the brunt of the city's surge in gun violence. "We must stand united against these killers," said Adams, a former NYC police captain amid a crowd of fellow officers. Those who stand against this effort, Adams continued, "are coconspirators to the violence we are witnessing." Many in the crowd sighed an audible "amen."

A few days later Adams employed similarly pointed language when issuing his comprehensive 15 page "Blueprint to End Gun Violence" plan. It "will take all of us," he said, to end killings like Rivera and Mora - along with the shooting of 11month old Catherine Rose Ortiz in the Bronx that same week.

While Adams understandably didn't single out any particular ethnic group, the data surrounding the city's gun surge make for some pretty compelling parsing. In 2020, for instance, NYC police data revealed that 96% of shooting victims were either black or Hispanic, while eight predominantly minority and lower-income Bronx and Brooklyn neighborhoods had the highest number of shootings citywide. Nearly exact statistics were revealed for 2021, which saw some 90% of murder victims and nearly 97% of shooting victims were also either black or Hispanic.

Most tellingly, shooting suspects and arrests followed an almost entirely similar demographic breakdown - which means that for gun violence to end in New York City, black and brown people must stop shooting and killing other black and brown people.

Question 1: What are the main points of the article?

Question 2: Do you agree with the article?

Question 3: In your opinion how can communities work together with the Police to reduce violence and crime?