Boston Mayor Compares Vaccine Passports to Documentation Required During Slavery

Boston Mayor Kim Janey (D) compared the idea of requiring vaccine verification to the practice of having to show one’s papers during slavery and the Jim Crow era, as well as the more recent birtherism conspiracy theory.

“There’s a long history in this country of people needing to show their papers,” Janey said during an interview with NewsCenter 5. “During slavery, post-slavery, as recent as you know what immigrant population has to go through here. We heard Trump with the birth certificate nonsense. Here we want to make sure that we are not doing anything that would further create a barrier for residents of Boston or disproportionally impact [Black, Indigenous or people of color] communities.”

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Janey later issued a statement about her comments, saying that the “hurdles facing communities of color with lower vaccination rates” should not be excuses, but that the city “must consider our shared history as we work to ensure an equitable public health and economic recovery.”

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