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silocren t1_ja8gi95 wrote

Reply to comment by downthewell62 in 'Difficult to find right balance': Wu responds to harsh criticism on handling of Boston violence by Boston1_

Clearly there is something she can do - the impacted communities feel like they are being ignored by Wu when it comes to public safety:

>"She has been (missing in action) on this issue," the Rev. Eugene Rivers said Wednesday. "We're asking Mayor Wu, you have to be leadership for all of the city. You can't ignore the Black community."
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>Some of Wu's critics have said they do not regularly see her or Boston police Commissioner Michael Cox at major crime scenes, unlike their predecessors.

She should at least show her face when somebody is gunned down for the 7th time in less than 3 months. Easier to just tweet out condolences than actually be out in the community I guess.

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CognacNCuddlin t1_ja8hosf wrote

While I don’t disagree, showing her face and being on the ground in support is more political optics than anything else if we are being completely honest here. Most think the police have too much budget so it’s not a matter of resources and funding. The main question I have in all of this is what are the local religious leaders saying to their congregations and within the community? A lot of the people who enable these criminals or have information the police would need to investigate are in the community.

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silocren t1_ja8j47z wrote

Generally I would agree with you, but when the impacted community is actively asking you to show your face, it no longer becomes "political optics". They clearly feel ignored by Wu, and if it makes them feel seen for her to show up more frequently, then she should strive to do that. It's a low effort way for her to engage with the community in a way they have specifically requested.

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downthewell62 t1_ja8sur8 wrote

Oh, so people are upset that she's not posing for pointless photo ops..

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silocren t1_ja8u1za wrote

Let me correct you - members of the community directly impacted by violence feel that Wu is ignoring the violence problem. Their concerns are exacerbated by the fact that Wu has yet to show her face in these communities and instead offers Twitter platitudes.

But please continue to tell the Black community how they should feel about a mayor who won't even do the bare minimum to engage with them.

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downthewell62 t1_ja8xc2f wrote

"It's very difficult to find the right balance between supporting families and being present, and reaching out with services and support behind closed doors, rather than running in front of cameras — that actually retraumatizes and elevates experiences that families don't want to live through ever again"

I see one quote from one person, not "the black community" that she very obviously isn't ignoring. Nice try though

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silocren t1_ja9c3g4 wrote

>"It's very difficult to find the right balance between supporting families and being present, and reaching out with services and support behind closed doors, rather than running in front of cameras — that actually retraumatizes and elevates experiences that families don't want to live through ever again"

That's is Wu's opinion - clearly the community feels differently.

>I see one quote from one person, not "the black community" that she very obviously isn't ignoring. Nice try though

So we need to get every single black person's opinion on how Wu is handling public safety in their communities before we can make any conclusions? Rev. Eugene Rivers is clearly a leader in the community and infinitely more connected with its residents than you are. It is wildly inappropriate (and borderline paternalistic) to think you know better than a community leader.

The fact is Wu drastically underperformed among the Black community compared to Marty Walsh (let alone Janey) - that is not conjecture. Even in her city councilor days, the Black community did not feel like Wu advocated for or represented them:

>Walsh’s support is strongest in Roxbury, Mattapan, Hyde Park and Dorchester neighborhoods generally to the west of Dorchester Avenue, where 54 percent of respondents said they’d likely support him and just 16 percent said they’d likely support Wu.

The fact is the black community at large feels ignored by Wu. You can't hand wave this away and tell them how they "should feel".

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jojenns t1_ja8iry4 wrote

She addressed that with a typical Wu word salad . She nor the commissioner shows up because it “re traumatizes and elevates experiences” its another nonsense answer deflecting accountability

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