Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is no stranger to criticism, especially from political opponents who often weaponize crime statistics to disparage Black-led cities. But Scott put a spotlight on a different kind of attack, one laced with racism, hate, and ignorance.
And instead of shrinking from it, he chose to confront it head-on.
In a video posted to Instagram, the 41-year-old mayor played an explicit and racist voicemail he received in July. The message, left by an anonymous caller, targeted Scott personally and racially, with language too vile to fully quote but impossible to ignore.
“I really think it’s timely for folks to hear the kind of hatred and vitriol…that still exists in the world today,” Scott said.
The caller unleashed a hateful tirade, calling Scott a “f—king n—-r wanna be thug a– gangster,” blaming him for making Baltimore a “piece of worthless s–t,” and making inflammatory claims that Scott is “running Baltimore’s criminal enterprise.”
Scott didn’t flinch.
“This is not the first time I’ve been called the n-word, and it won’t be the last,” he said. “In fact, if I go a week without being called the n-word an email, text message, direct message, voicemail, whatever, I feel like I’m not doing my job.”
Baltimore’s Progress and the Backlash
Mayor Scott’s video comes at a moment when Black mayors across the country are pushing back against right-wing narratives suggesting their cities are in decline. President Donald Trump recently declared Washington, D.C., “so far gone” due to crime and controversially moved to place the city’s police department under federal control.
Scott, who leads neighboring Baltimore, has become a vocal critic of these tactics, arguing that they overlook data and play into racist tropes.
Baltimore, in fact, just recorded its lowest homicide rate in nearly 50 years. Scott noted that his administration isn’t celebrating that milestone as a final victory, but rather sees it as proof that the city is moving in the right direction.
“We are acknowledging that historic progress and knowing we have even much more work to do,” he said in the video. “To say that we’re not tackling the issue is simply just ignoring the facts.”
“Blickety Blickety Black”: Proud and Unbothered
Rather than be shaken by the racist rant, Scott leaned into his identity and the mission of his administration.
“I am never going to be afraid to be a proud Black man,” he said. “We are a Black city—Blickety Blickety Black, as I say. We’re proud of that. We’re always going to be a part of that.”
He emphasized that Baltimore’s progress has been intentional—focused on reinvesting in neighborhoods that were historically redlined and abandoned by design.
“I am investing into neighborhoods like the one I grew up in that was disinvested in on purpose. But we’re not just doing it for Black people…we’re also improving for all of our communities.”
Rejecting Tough-on-Crime Tropes
Scott also used the video to critique outdated approaches to public safety, especially ones that rely on mass incarceration and racial profiling.
“We’re not going out and arresting every Black person just for being Black…we’re being smart on crime, which is a lot better and proven to have a lot better results in their tough-on-crime ways of the past,” he said.
That approach—emphasizing community investment, intervention programs, and better policing practices—has drawn criticism from those who equate criminal justice reform with leniency. But Scott insists the results speak for themselves.
Photo Credit: Antar Hanif
