At the “Abate Hate and Hate Violence Summit” at Gracie Mansion on Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams summed up the gist of the context in his opening remarks: “We have not evolved in kindness; we have not evolved in the hate that we’re seeing. In fact, it has been hidden under the surface, and it has engulfed us as a human race.”
He added that “it’s time for us to pause for a moment” and reflect on “where are we going and what the future looks like.”
Adams reported that his Jewish staffers told him they feared riding the subway and sometimes felt the need to remove religious identifiers such as kippahs. Muslim women told the mayor that they worried about harassment for wearing their hijabs.
Pointing to bigotry against Sikhs and LGBTQ individuals, Adams said that “there is no community that escapes the hate that we’re seeing.” He compared discrimination to the COVID-19 virus moving through the city during the pandemic.
The mayor drew a line distinguishing anger from hate and argued that the former can inspire positive change. “It’s OK to be angry; it’s not OK to hate,” he said. “Anger motivates us to change. Anger motivates us to want to do something different.”
Adams noted examples from his own personal life and political career.
“I was angry that I was undiagnosed dyslexic and did not get the support that I needed. It motivated me to do dyslexia screening in our schools,” he said. “I was angry that mom did not get the food that she deserved to feed the family instead of feeding the chronic diseases that were pervasive in our community. It motivated me to have healthy foods in our schools.”
He pointed to hate’s growing manifestation on social media, on college campuses, in city streets and in terrorist acts by Hamas.
“It tugged at me what I watched, what is playing out, not only in Gaza now, but what has played out on Oct. 7,” Adams said. “You’re seeing the level of hatred that I have never witnessed in my lifetime.”
Concluding his remarks, the mayor emphasized: “If we don’t become intentional and focus on the dismantling of hate, then we’ll never be the champions that we once were. This is the greatest country on the globe; no other place [has a] dream attached to its name. That dream should not be a nightmare that is rooted in hate.”
