#De Blasio says daughter Chiara confronted him about his ‘white privilege’

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Mayor Bill de Blasio and his daughter Chiara.
Douglas Healey

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that his bi-racial daughter has previously confronted him about his own “white privilege.”

“She would talk to me about my own white privilege … she’s usually right,” de Blasio said of his 25-year-old daughter, Chiara, during a TIME 100 Talks virtual event focusing on how leaders are responding to the overlapping global crises of social injustice and coronavirus.

“Usually her underlying impulse with me having to come to grips with something over many, many years has usually been right,” said the mayor, explaining that he has “started to be open to my own privilege.”

De Blasio — who during the talk spoke of Chiara’s recent arrest during a Manhattan protest over the Minneapolis police-involved killing of George Floyd — also called for the NYPD sergeants’ union to be “fully investigated” for leaking Chiara’s arrest report containing personal information on Twitter.

“It was an attack on her. It was an attack on us. It was an attack on democracy,” de Blasio said of the Sergeants Benevolent Association’s action to post the May 31 arrest report.

“She didn’t deserve to have her privacy invaded,” Hizzoner said. “I think that needs to be fully investigated.”

De Blasio said he was “proud” of his daughter for protesting, “But angry that her privacy was invaded.”

Chiara allegedly blocked traffic during the Manhattan protest on Broadway and was busted after refusing to move. She was ultimately given a desk appearance ticket.

“She went and was in a cell for quite a while with all her colleagues,” said de Blasio.

The mayor’s wife, First Lady Chirlane McCray, who also spoke during the event, said she was unaware her daughter had been at the protest, but was “not surprised because she was doing what reflects her values.”

“As a mother I have to say I was alarmed because of course I worry. I worry about my children and their safety all the time,” McCray said, adding, “She was fine. It was, I think, a very educational experience for her.”

“I can’t say how proud I am of her,” the First Lady said.

Meanwhile, the City Council on Monday ordered the Department of Investigation to probe privacy breaches at the NYPD, including the SBA, headed by union boss Ed Mullins, tweeting out Chiara’s arrest report.

“The mayor said it happens all the time,” Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), who chairs the Oversight and Investigations Committee, said during a hearing.

“And unlike the mayor, the speaker [Corey Johnson] and I refuse to standby passively and accept the privacy breaches as fact of life.”

Torres continued, “It’s something the city can no longer abide … We can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to any kind of police misconduct.”