‘Black list’ angers students
ONEONTA (AH — Darryl
Taylor will never forget the
welcome he received at the
Slate University of New York
at Oneonta
Just two weeks after arriv
mg on campus last ran. layior was summoned
from the shower by two state troopers invest igat
my; uiv nuui.n. ui uu oiuci i > uuc
woman. allegedly by a black
man. They asked the freshman
where he was Sept. 4. checked
his hands for cuts, and left,
"I was scared." said Taylor, a
business economics major from
Brooklyn. "I thought they were
confusing me with someone else
for something I knew I didn't
do."
But police weren't confusing
Taylor with anyone. The 77-year
old woman told police her knife
wielding assailant was a young
black man. She said she cut him
on the hand before he fled.
Tavlor fit the description. He is
black.
So are 124 of his follow classmates, whose
names and addresses were handed over to state
police by school officials. And so did every other
one of the 350 or so black men in this predomi
nately white college town in upstate New York. 70
miles west of Albany.
Six months later, the reverberations from the so
called "black list” still register. And for some time,
authorities will havo to deal with the resulting
lawsuits and the anger of Oneonla's black men
Over a four-day period, almost every one of
them was stopped, questioned and searched by
state police, some two and throe times.
Taylor said he didn't even realize that the char
acteristic that qualified them for such treatment
was skin color until he started swapping stories
with other black students.
Word spread quickly among black men that if
they didn't want to be stopped, they should walk
with their hands in full view so police wouldn't
think they were hiding anything. Taylor said.
"What a welcome,'' ho said. "It made me say,
Wake up.' it was racist and it made me see the
world for what it really is if you're black, it
smacked me on the face, and I don't like being
smacked on the face."
Maj. Joseph Loszynski. who heads the state
police barracks that conducted the investigation,
acknowledged that federal law forbids the distrib
ution of a list such as the one Oneonta State pro
vided.
But he said that if he had it to do all over again,
the investigation would have l>ecn conducted the
some way.
"If the roles were reversed and the same cir
cumstances and physical evidence was there, and
we had indications that they came from a central
location like the school's dorms, l would have
made as many attempts to interview its occupants
— even if they were white," Loszynski said.
Ho denied the investigation was racist
‘What a welcome.
It made me say,
“Wake up.” It was
racist and It made
me see the world
for what it really is
if you’re black.’
— Darryl Taylor,
Student at State University ot
New York at Oneonta
"I don't think that that is an unsound police
prac tu i> " he Mid
Gov Mario Cuomo disagrees "Maybe their
hearts were pure." Cuomo said "Rut it was obvi
ously inappropriate to say there was some black
people involved and then all of a sudden you're
pulling records and in effect making accusations “
To others like Scott Fein, a lawyer representing
the mack students. the investiga
tion was a throwback to the Deep
South prior to the Civil Rights
era.
In those days, black men were
routinely stopped by police on
the "suspicion" that they had
committed rapes. They didn't
dare look an officer in the eye for
fear of looking suspicious, and
stepped into the street gutters
when «i while woman passed to
avoid even the simplest contact.
Fein said.
So when Larry Flasket! was
questioned by police on the
street, the moment had unpleas
ant historical at hoes Me said he
was afraid to walk home for fear police would
come knocking on his door
“I was almost home when a cop car came dri
ving up the street.” said f’lnskett. a student from
Far Rockaway in New York City. "I walked around
the block because I didn't want them to know
where 1 lived.”
hike Plaskett. most of the black students are
from metropolitan Now York. They seek edui a
tions that could help them escape the poverty, vio
lence and crime that statistic s show leads more
black men to jad than to college.
The students are seeking unusual redress in the
state and federal lawsuits they ore filing In addi
tion to funds for Oneonta State's multicultural cen
ter. they want 125 State University of New York
scholarships for their families and friends.
The full-tuition awards would force college offi
cials to remember the injustice done to black male
Oneonta State students, Fein said
Oneonta State President Alan Donovan said he
tried to atone for the "black list” by suspending
and demoting Vice President Leif Hartmark, who
compiled the list and handed it over to troopers
The school also has taken steps to increase sen
sitivity at the college, including training for facul
ty and staff, increased minority hiring, increased
funding for minority programs and counselors for
the students.
But Donovan said the "black list" investigation
was just a small drop in the well of small-town
racism.
"That isn't an excuse for what happened here,
because it wos inexcusable,” Donovan said. "But
it happens all over. Unfortunately. Oneonta is not
unique."
Taylor agreed Me said he was going to earn his
degree to beat the odds stacked against him. "to
make sure I never get smacked in the face again."
"But I won't be shocked or surprised if it hap
pens again." he said "Oneonta is America."
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