Introduction

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Speeches at the inauguration of Mayor Bill de Blasio and other New York City officials on Wednesday were called unfair and rude to the outgoing mayor, Michael Bloomberg. He was linked to a “Dickensian justice system.” The city was called a “plantation,” a place with “brownstones and brown skin playing tug-of-war.”

Did the speakers show disrespect to Bloomberg, ignoring his accomplishments, or were they voicing the frustrations and aspirations of millions of New Yorkers who have rarely been heard?