San Francisco Mayor London Breed expressed frustration with non-black people taking over the Black Lives Matter movement and attempting to dictate to African-Americans what is best for that community.
“I have a real problem with the takeover of the movement by white people,” Breed tells Vogue Magazine.
“I want people to respect the opinions and feelings of Black people and allow us to decide what is in our best interest. I talk about the plan to reduce the police budget and reallocate those resources to the African American community, and a large number of non-Blacks reached out to tell me what I should do for the Black community. Then, they say what their community deserves because of their challenges as well. That really bothered me. The Black community [of San Francisco] is capable of speaking for ourselves and deciding what’s in our best interest.”
Asked whether concerns of San Francisco’s black residents are being addressed by progressives, Breed had a sharp critique:
“What’s happening in San Francisco now, and has for so many years, is you have a progressive movement made up of people who are mostly white and feel that they know what’s in the best interest of Black people.
I’m over that.
I think it’s important that we support and respect the Black people here enough to know that we have a mind of our own. Because half the policies pushed in San Francisco are ‘progressive policies’ that don’t work for Black people. Because, if they did, why are things far worse for Black people here? In San Francisco, a city where less than 5 to 6% of the population is African American and yet we are disproportionately overrepresented in everything that’s bad: high school dropouts, arrests, homelessness. You name it.”
San Francisco has been plagued by a spiraling homeless problem, high crime rates and a severe lack of affordable housing.
The average rent in San Francisco is $3,629 and the average apartment size is 747 sq. ft. This amount is more than twice the national average of $1,468.
Photo by Gage Skidmore