RACE CARD: Are feds targeting too many black pols in NY corruption probe?
It’s a glaring aspect of the most talked about issue in Albany’s burgeoning public corruption investigation that few are willing to raise publicly: Is the federal corruption sting rocking New York politics singling out black and Latino politicians? Experts and many lawmakers acknowledge it may appear that way but it’s not the case.
So far, in a Legislature where minorities have long been underrepresented, the five figures who have been charged and eight who have been caught on FBI surveillance wires in the last five weeks are all black or Latino.
“Black and Hispanic politicians are the ones being wired and sent out to root out corruption among black and Hispanic officials,” said Sen. Ruben Diaz Jr., a Bronx Democrat. “I would hate to think that as black and Hispanic leaders …. we would be targeted to weed out corruption only in our backyards and that we would be held to a higher standard than the non-black and Hispanic leaders.”