New York City’s new mayor Eric Adams has only had the job less than a week and he’s already proving to be truly terrible.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, Adams expressed his displeasure with the continuation of remote work due to the extremely still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Adams said he wanted corporate businesses to encourage their employees to come into the office and into the city—a city where this week an average of 600 people have had to be hospitalized because of the virus every day. The reasoning he gave for his awful opinion was that those corporate employees need to support the “low skill workers” who “don’t have the academic skills to sit in the corner office.”
Eric Adams just said “Low skill workers like cooks, messengers and Dunkin’ Donuts employees don’t have the academic skills to sit in a corner office” pic.twitter.com/KaoY9MNZ8J
— Achmat X (@AchmatX) January 4, 2022
“I don’t know if my businesses are sharing with their employees, ‘You are part of the ecosystem of this city.’ My low-skill workers, my cooks, my dishwashers, my messengers, my shoe shine people, those that work in Dunkin’ Donuts, they don’t have the academic skills to sit in the corner office. They need this,” Adams said.
First of all, his use of possessive pronouns is bizarre.
Eric Adams constant use of possessive pronouns is already exhausting. My workers , my schools , this dude really think he kingpin
— Antoine Hardy (@Slangdini) January 4, 2022
But that’s just the tiniest part of what’s wrong with his comments. It really is incredible how fast “essential” workers became “low skill” workers in the eyes of so many people.
2020: “essential workers”
2022: “low skilled workers”— Mac (@GoodPoliticGuy) January 4, 2022
It’s telling how easily some transitioned from labeling folks “essential workers” to “low skilled workers.”
— Kat Stafford (@kat__stafford) January 5, 2022
In a follow-up interview with CBS This Morning, Adams said what he meant was “low-wage workers” and accused people of trying to “distort” his message. But neither message is acceptable! It’s dehumanizing to equate people’s value with their job and their level of “skill”—a meaningless term—or their pay. And Adams straight-up said those workers need the benevolence of accountants and bankers and the like, due to their lack of “academic skills.” No one was distorting that message.
Whether a person is working at Dunkin’ Donuts as a stepping stone to something else or because it’s exactly where they plan to stay, they don’t need people like Adams making assumptions about their abilities, intelligence, or disposability in a pandemic.
With a bachelor’s degree I worked part-time at Subway, as a receptionist, and as a cashier at a department store. I sold mattresses with a master’s degree. I also am human enough to know that your job does not dictate your value. https://t.co/ogPQGAbqkT
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) January 4, 2022
The suggestion that any job is “low skill” is a myth perpetuated by wealthy interests to justify inhumane working conditions, little/no healthcare, and low wages.
Plus being a waitress has made me and many others *better* at our jobs than those who’ve never known that life. https://t.co/dhkhBwyNWK
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 5, 2022
No such thing as a “low skill worker.”
— Tiffany Cabán (@tiffany_caban) January 4, 2022
Y’all don’t be wanting other people to make more because your identity is tied to your salary. Harder to look down on McDonalds workers if they getting closer to your desk job money ain’t it?
— ……. (@PrinceHAK33M) January 3, 2022
people who call fast food or retail workers “low skill” would absolutely d*e if they had to work a single saturday night 3rd shift at waffle house
— ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ɪ’ᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ (@fatnudes) January 4, 2022
This is just the latest terrible take from Adams, who also said recently that we could defeat COVID-19 with “swagger” and that anyone who hasn’t worn a bulletproof vest isn’t allowed to criticize his policies on criminal justice. We are absolutely not looking forward to hearing what he says next.
(image: screenshot)
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