New York Governor Kathy Hochul is trying to dig herself out of a massive ditch after making a controversial comment about Black children in the largest city in the state she governs.
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The governor traveled to California for the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 6 to tout her Empire AI program, a $400 million partnership between leading New York universities and research institutions to “promote responsible research and AI opportunities focused on public good.”
Part of the partnership includes building a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence computing center in Upstate New York designed to bring jobs into the area. But instead, people are focusing on this statement she made about Black children in the Bronx:
“Right now we have, you know, young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don’t even know what the word ‘computer’ is,” she said, adding: “They don’t know, they don’t know these things.”
New York Assembly Member Amanda Septimo, who represents the South Bronx, was quick to take the governor to task. She released a May 6 statement on X writing in part:
“Governor Hochul’s remarks regarding young Black children in the Bronx were harmful, deeply misinformed and genuinely appalling. The Bronx I know and love is full of children who are smart, curious and eager for opportunities to learn and grow.”
Assembly Member Karines Reyes, R.N., who also represents parts of the Bronx, chimed in on X calling on Hochul to “do better.” “Our children are bright, brilliant, extremely capable, and more than deserving of any opportunities that are extended to other kids,” she wrote in her post.
But Hochul did receive some support from people who argued her remarks weren’t intentionally racist, including civil rights leader and MSNBC host Al Sharpton. He said Hochul was trying to make a “good point” that “a lot of our community is robbed of using social media because we are racially excluded from access.”
Governor Hochul has since apologized and tried to walk back her comment, saying “I misspoke and I regret it.”
“Of course, Black children in the Bronx know what computers are – the problem is that they too often lack access to the technology needed to get on track to high-paying jobs in emerging industries like AI,” she said in a statement.
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