Source: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Getty
New York Governor Kathy Hochul publicly apologized for her comments regarding Black kids in the Bronx earlier in the week.
On Monday (May 6), New York Governor Kathy Hochul addressed the backlash she received for comments that she made about Black children in the Bronx during a panel discussion. Hochul was being interviewed by Washington Post columnist and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart on stage during a discussion hosted by the Milken Institute in Los Angeles. In discussing the state’s “Empire AI” initiative that will provide supercomputer access in the Buffalo area, Hochul said “Right now, we have young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don’t even know what the word ‘computer’ is,” adding, “They don’t know, they don’t know these things. I want the world opened up to all of them.”
The comment drew immediate backlash from local politicians. Assemblywoman Karines Reyes, who represents several neighborhoods in the Bronx, issued a statement in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Deeply disturbed by @GovKathyHochul’s recent remarks and the underlying perception that she has of Black & brown children from the BX. Our children are bright, brilliant, extremely capable, and more than deserving of any opportunities that are extended to other kids. Do better.” She was joined by fellow Assemblywoman Amanda Septimo who issued a statement calling the governor’s remarks “deeply misinformed, and genuinely appalling.”
Hochul would apologize later that evening. “I misspoke and I regret it,” she said. In a statement released later, she elaborated further: “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.” It’s not the first time that Hochul has made a verbal misstep. In February, Hochul hypothesized what would happen if Canada attacked the United States similar to how the Hamas militant organization attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. “If Canada someday ever attacked Buffalo, I’m sorry, my friends, there would be no Canada the next day,” she said at the time. Hochul would also quickly apologize for her “poor choice of words” the next day.
