Are Black mayors under attack across the U.S., some say it’s a pattern

African American Mayors Association 2024 Conference photo New York Mayor Eric Adams has vowed to fight the five-count federal indictment handed down by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on September 26. He also says he will not resign and hold on to control of one of the world’s most influential cities.  Embarrassing as it may be that Adams is the first sitting New York mayor to be indicted, a broader view of the problems facing mayors shows chief executives in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlantic City, and a slew of other Black-led municipalities are also facing an avalanche of negative media headlines, questions about their leadership, and federal or local criminal scrutiny. The pattern is troubling enough that a veteran attorney who once filed a petition to the United Nations to probe attacks on Black elected officials and an association that advocates on behalf of Black mayors has raised a cause for concern. “The indictment of a sitting mayor is a serious charge that calls for scrutiny. Like every American, Mayor Adams deserves the presumption of innocence and the right to defend himself in court,” said Phyliss Dickerson, chief executive officer of the African American Mayors Association (AAMA).  The AAMA,...