Black activists in the Bronx assail controversial Hochul remark

NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul said she regrets her remark that Black children in the Bronx don’t know the word “computer.” Black Lives Matter and education activists from the borough say that’s not enough.

“Our governor does not know the true capabilities of the children of the Bronx,” Hawk Newsome, co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, said on Friday. “These are great, special children who will grow up to be world-changing adults — if only New York State government would do their part.”

Newsome and his sister Chivona joined Black students at a south Bronx charter school to condemn Hochul’s perpetuation of a negative stereotype.

The Democratic governor had said offhandedly Monday from the stage of the Milken Institute Global Conference, “Right now, we have young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don’t even know what the word computer is.”

She apologized later that day, then added Thursday to reporters, “I chose the wrong words. I know I hurt a lot of people. I took full responsibility for it. I said that before, I said that the first day and I’ll continue to say it.”

The coalition of Black activists who gathered Friday said not having equitable access to computers does not equate to not knowing what a computer is. They showcased young people who are capable and college-bound, one of whom said he was so shocked at Hochul’s remark that he believed the video to be AI.

The Newsomes and their allies demanded the governor help make the Bronx “a tech hub” by investing in technology infrastructure, expanding partnerships between colleges and government tech officials and appointing a Black “tech czar” for the borough.

A Hochul spokesperson pointed POLITICO to her announcement last month of a $50 million Digital Equity Plan, including in partnership with several Bronx groups; her recent budget’s allocation of $13.6 billion overall for the city’s public schools; and legislation creating the state’s first commission to study reparations.

Hochul’s sentiment on Black children in the Bronx and computers initially drew scorn from Assemblymember Amanda Septimo, a Bronx Democrat, who called it “harmful, deeply misinformed, and genuinely appalling” and invited the governor to meet with children in the borough.

But the governor received backing from two prominent Black leaders: Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie of the Bronx and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

“I am not the word police; I know the governor’s heart,” Adams told reporters Tuesday. “The people of the Bronx knew where her heart was. She’s sincere about uplifting the people.”