Some residents see double standard in treatment of indicted state Sen. Attar

Larry Young, Nathaniel Oaks, Marilyn Mosby, Sheila Dixon, Cheryl Glenn, Catherine Pugh.

Their names roll off David Smallwood’s tongue in rhythm.

For decades, the president of the Uplands Community Association said he watched as those Baltimore politicians — all charged with crimes — were pummeled by a barrage of media attacks and public scrutiny.

He wonders why the same has not happened to state Sen. Dalya Attar.

Attar, her brother and a Baltimore Police officer were indicted by federal prosecutors in October on extortion charges. Prosecutors allege the three tried to blackmail a former campaign consultant, covertly recording the woman in bed with a married man and threatening to share the tape with the consultant’s family unless she sat out the 2022 election.

Attar has pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains in office while awaiting trial. Neither Attar nor her attorney responded to a request for comment.

The case is fueling rising resentment in Baltimore’s 41st District, where Attar faces a challenge from Del. Malcolm Ruff in one of Maryland’s most contentious primaries. The district, which covers Northwest, West and Southwest Baltimore neighborhoods, is 63% Black but also includes a significant Jewish population.

Attar, the first Orthodox Jewish woman to serve in the state Senate, was picked over Ruff, who is Black, to fill a vacancy last year.

Frustrated Black residents say they’re witnessing a double standard in Attar’s treatment since the indictment and in what they consider marked differences in media coverage — or lack thereof — compared to troubled Black politicians in the past.

Dixon, Glenn, Oaks and Pugh all reached plea deals prior to resigning their offices. Young was acquitted of corruption charges, but colleagues voted to expel him from the state Senate. Mosby was convicted after leaving office (a fraud conviction was later overturned).

“The playing field is not level for everybody, and it’s just not fair,” said Smallwood, a lifelong resident of the 41st District. “Everybody is innocent until proven guilty ... but that wasn’t the same sentiment when other Black officials were indicted or accused of crimes.”

Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, a professor of communication and African and African American studies at Loyola University Maryland, said she’s not surprised by the reaction. On her WEAA talk show, “Today with Dr. Kaye,” the race has been the most talked-about local contest this cycle.

“There’s always more grace, more mercy, less accountability when we’re talking about candidates that are not of color,” she said. “And that is why it is so frustrating. And it’s also why it’s so exhausting, particularly this moment when we’re trying to figure out the best path forward in order to reclaim and reshape our democracy.”

The issue particularly stings in a state like Maryland because it positions itself as a progressive, mostly Democratic state, she said.

“But we do have some very, very serious racial tension points that come across through the media,” she said, and they can show up in the middle of elections.

Sharon Carter, a Mount Holly resident, described herself as a former “staunch Dalya Attar supporter.” She’s voted for her in the past. She even wrote a Facebook post in support of Attar shortly after the federal indictment was announced.

And then she actually read it.

“I saw that her charges were also against a woman so that took away whatever bit of support that I could have still had for her at the time,” Carter said. “I had a change of heart.”

Her feelings turned to outrage.

“I have watched countless Black politicians get crucified, whether they were innocent, whether they were guilty,” she explained. “We have pressured people to step down.

“I cannot remain silent while she just skates through like nothing has happened. It’s entitlement, it’s racism.”

But Howard Libit, executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, has been troubled by what he called antisemitic rhetoric coming from Ruff supporters.

“It’s one thing to have a debate about ideas, to have a debate about what the district needs,” Libit said. “It’s another thing to say: ‘We can’t let the Jews control this district.’ That crosses the line in terms of antisemitism.”

Libit does not believe the rhetoric is linked to Ruff himself, but he said the contest could set back relationships between Black and Jewish residents in the district.

Libit said he had not seen anti-Black rhetoric and noted that a candidate running on Attar’s slate, Del. Sean Stinnett, is Black and Muslim.

“You’re seeing support for Sean across a lot of Jewish communities,” Libit said. “I don’t think it’s a question of not supporting someone because they’re Black.”

Smallwood, the Uplands resident, thinks Attar should step down and blames Senate President Bill Ferguson, who he said could push the Senate to admonish Attar. Ferguson’s office said it will wait for recommendations from the bipartisan Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, which polices lawmaker behavior.

Whitehead said people have been left questioning why elected officials have not done anything about this. There is a “general frustration, anxiety, distrust” Black people are feeling toward the media and toward politicians.

“It’s coming from both the national level, the state level and the local level,” she said. “I think we’re in a real conundrum now when it comes to trying to figure out what is the best route.”