Durham, North Carolina, Mayor Leonardo Williams is standing his ground after catching heat for using the acronym “YN,” short for “young ni**a,” during a town hall meeting addressing youth violence. Despite growing backlash, Williams says the focus should be on the real issue at hand, not on two letters.
YN is now normalized. Welcome to America in 2025.
“It was me responding to an audience in the context in which we were having a conversation,” Williams explained to The Raleigh News & Observer. “I’m not taking back the context of that conversation, and I’m not going to apologize either. My reference is, these youngings on the street are killing each other, something has to be done. I wish people would focus on that, rather than two letters that came out of my mouth.”
The comment came while Williams was speaking on the rise in local gun violence, specifically referencing how youth have been stealing weapons from vehicles and engaging in reckless behavior. “We’re dealing with some YNs out here just doing their own thing, stealing [guns] out of cars and they don’t know how to communicate,” he said during the meeting.
While some defended the mayor’s direct approach to a complex problem, others were less forgiving. Paul Scott, a local activist, took to the socials to express his concern. “As someone who brags about being a former educator, you know the power of words,” Scott said in a video on the Gram. “You know that people would take you calling young Black men breaking into cars YNs, people would take that and run with it. Durham already gets bashed enough.”
As the story gained traction, Williams addressed the controversy again through a Facebook video, slightly softening his tone. “For the folks that I know and respect who are hurt by how this has materialized into something else, I apologize,” he said. “I also apologize around the fact that even though the intent was something different, there may be a young person who is taking what they’re seeing and thinking that they’re undervalued, and that is not something that I want.”
Williams, who has served as mayor since December 2023 and is currently seeking re-election, continues to emphasize that his remarks were meant to highlight the urgency of stopping the violence among young people in his community, not to devalue them.
The debate around language and leadership is heating up, but Mayor Williams insists his focus remains the same: protecting the city’s youth before more lives are lost.