Ask any Black Democrats who sits in the New York State Senate about the chamber's portrayal in the media and the answer is simple enough: biased and without merit.
Eric Adams, who first made a name for himself on the streets of New York as a police officer and a defender of people's rights, and who is now carving out a niche for himself in the upper chamber as a voice for the less fortunate, complained about the treatment of Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith of Queens in the major media.
"There has clearly been an attempt to erode the ability of Malcolm Smith, the first African American to become the Majority Leader, to erode his credibility," said State Senator Adams. "That same erosion we have seen happening to David Paterson, the Governor of our State. It's the same methodology we saw before with David Dinkins, the first and only Black person elected Mayor of the City of New York."
In essence, the portrayal is akin to a recurring decimal.
State Senator John Sampson, the influential Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in Albany, shares Adams' sentiment.
"The Senate Democrats who control the chamber are for the first time making unprecedented changes in the way the Senate goes about its business," he told the Carib News. "Yet, the mainstream media is beating up on Democrats while for years it gave Governor George Pataki, a Republican, and the previous Senate Majority Leader, Joseph Bruno, a relative free hand to do what they wished. Now that the Democrats are in the majority and a Black person is at the helm, we are seeing all kinds of unfair attacks. Clearly, that's not right."
What has upset Black Democrats in the Senate is that it was widely accepted that under the Republicans, Albany had become dysfunctional. Yet a drumbeat of daily criticism of Senate leadership was avoided like the plague. Back then the leadership in Albany was almost exclusively white and male.
But today, Black lawmakers charge, hardly a day goes by without State Senator Smith and others being vilified for simply making long-overdue changes to the system of government but being given little credit for anything positive.
The passing of the State budget with help for the unemployed, those receiving Medicaid and the working poor, got little coverage. Another achievement was the crisis over the fares the Metropolitan Transportation Authority wanted to impose but was resolved to most people's satisfaction.
"We had mismanagement in Albany under Governor Pataki for years and we didn't see the daily diet of negative coverage with fingers being pointed unfairly at the Majority Leader and the Governor," said Sampson, who like Adams is a representative from Brooklyn.
But the problem extends beyond Albany and the Blacks who are exercising real influence and authority in the State Capital.
"We have a very good candidate running for Mayor of New York city and he can't get a blip of coverage in any of the daily papers," complained Adams. "Many of the events he holds are not covered. As a mayoral candidate, the mere fact that he is holding such events should be considered news by the editors, but they are not."
Of course, the Mayoral candidate they have in mind is William "Bill" Thompson, the City Comptroller, who is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination. Thompson, who has escaped the negative characterizations being heaped upon Paterson and Smith, may be suffering in another way, according Black elected officials: media neglect.
"Bill can expect worst treatment as he proceeds with his campaign for Mayor," Adams added. "He is going to feel the full brunt of what it is like to be in the forefront like that. There is a lot to come."
Another lawmaker in Albany put it differently. "As a Black elected official in a leadership position in this town you are like an endangered specimen," he said. "It is as if the editors have decided that the best way to deal with Thompson for Mayor is to pretend he doesn't exist as a candidate. Thompson is a decent person with a record of distinguished public service, long before he became Comptroller. He has done an excellent job these past seven years as the City's chief fiscal watchdog. But if you were an out-of-towner in New York for the first time, you would think that the only person running for Mayor is Michael Bloomberg, the current mayor. It's as bad as that."
Many of the Black elected officials cite the treatment of U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel D-NY), Chairman of the influential Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives as a clear example to support their case.
"The treatment Rangel has had to endure is appalling," Assemblyman Nick Perry, also a Democrat of Brooklyn, said. "This is a person who has served the City and the country with distinction but you certainly get the impression that some forces are determined to tarnish his record. But it is not going to work."
AdamsPaterson as Governor in 2010. included Rangel on his list of Black elected officials who are receiving unfair media treatment and, like Perry, was confident the Harlem Democrat would endure it all. One thing they all agree on is that the media blitz is on, full throttle to block the re-election of
