Today, across the United States of America, in some of the largest urban cities, Black Americans are having renewed nightmares about being taken for granted, ignored and erased — in history and in the public square.
Ethnic cleansing is an insidious form of systematic racism. In response to the increasing “browning of America,” concerns are raised about unfulfilled commitments intended to ensure racial equality in municipal politics, economics and urban revitalization.
New York City is the nation’s largest city. The presence and contributions of African Americans to the city’s centuries-long development and evolution are rarely highlighted or saluted. The election of Zohran Mamdani would not have been possible without the huge turnout of African American and Latino voters. Yet the interests of Black America in the nation’s largest metropolis appear to be routinely triaged by the Mamdani administration.
We are the Black Press of America. For the past 199 years, since the first publication of Freedom’s Journal in New York City in 1827, we have had to call out those who pretended to be our political allies. Accountability from those we help elect is a fair and just demand.
Voters of color — both Black and Latino New Yorkers — backed Andrew Cuomo heavily in the primary, but ultimately decided to give Zohran Mamdani a chance, overcoming their skepticism on housing, transit and public safety, reportedly moved by his affordability agenda.
This trust, on the part of Black voters in particular, may have been misplaced. Why? Several troubling early signs suggest the new mayor is disregarding New Yorkers of color and treating them like Ralph Ellison’s iconic Invisible Man.
Thus far, Mayor Mamdani has appointed no Black deputy mayors — a glaring signal to Black voters who supported him on the promise of racial equity in the city’s administration. Does Mamdani value our insights, lived experiences or our voices in crafting critical policies at City Hall?
Mamdani was forced to apologize to Black New Yorkers for overlooking the historical contributions of enslaved and indigenous people to building the city when he spoke of a city “built by immigrants” in his inauguration speech.
The Mamdani administration is holding a series of “Rental Ripoff” hearings, spearheaded by Cea Weaver, director of his Office to Protect Tenants, who has called homeownership a form of white supremacy. The mayor is reaching out to help private landlords rather than prioritizing repairs to public housing — NYCHA — which has a dismal track record of poor conditions: no heat, yearlong waits for repairs, and rampant pests and mold.
Ninety percent of the more than 511,000 NYCHA residents are Black and Latino, part of a larger trend in which 95% of Black households in New York state live in highly segregated buildings and/or neighborhoods. NYCHA is the largest landlord in New York City, so the Mamdani administration telling residents to wait even longer for solutions to their long-standing substandard living conditions must be challenged.
The unfolding case study of Mayor Mamdani in New York City reveals that we must keep voting — with record turnout. But after elections, we must hold mayors and other elected officials accountable. Mamdani still has time to ensure greater equity in New York City. But will he do the right thing at the right time?
Chavis is president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and executive producer of “The Chavis Chronicles” on PBS TV Network.