Members of Black Lives Matter …say the 37-year-old Democratic mayor brushed off their concerns about police violence in the city he has led since 2012.

“He seemed to have already taken a side. It did seem that he was prioritizing who he thought was important, and it didn’t seem to be black people.”

…Activists pushed Buttigieg to address the disparities …between the national figure …campaigning on a forceful pledge to go after systemic racism, and the local public official who …caved to bureaucratic obstacles and political opposition.

…“He tried to argue that there was support for the chief, and that there were members of the public who wanted more police. …When you think about these issues, who is the public that you’re thinking about? The white public or the black public?”

…The mayor had pledged to attend some of the community meetings the city had scheduled in the wake of the shooting to review police policies, they said. But there have been six so far, and he hasn’t showed.

Instead, they said they were met by police officers openly carrying weapons.

…The activists …pressed Buttigieg …to deliver on promises that he had made …concerning providing mental health resources to Logan’s family members, and releasing data about how members of the police department fared in an online test administered by Harvard University that measures racial bias.

…[Buttgieg’s] promises [to members of Black Lives Matter] fizzled, as they were passed along to more city officials who ultimately turned them down.

…“If you ask black South Bend what they think of Mayor Pete, I don’t think he has a very big fan base,” she said. “So if he hasn’t been able to win the support of black South Bend, I don’t think he should win the support of black America.”

Pete Buttigieg met with Black Lives Matter after Eric Logan shooting

Despite what the progressive community would like to think, being a member of one minority does not automatically make you sensitive to the positions and issues of another group.

If the Mayor was doing more than giving lip-service, if he really understood and empathized with the position of the black residents of South Bend, if he truly cared about criminal justice reform and parity under the law for black citizens, these promises would have turned into action instead of empty air.