Weighing the relative racism of different candidates in the hopes of arriving at the choice as to who will do the least damage is nothing new to black voters. In fact, it’s a big reason why Mike Bloomberg and his bottomless coffers have been attracting black folks concerned first and foremost with ousting Donald Trump, who became president by appealing to white resentment.

 

But an audio recording of Bloomberg recirculating this week was a stark reminder about Bloomberg’s imperious approach to black lives. He explained that he had police officers flood black and brown neighborhoods because “that’s where all the crime is,” while also falsely asserting that “95 percent” of “murderers and murder victims” are “male, minorities, 16 to 25. That’s true in New York, that’s true in virtually every city.”