‘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." mis Week s Luncheon Specials Bung Bung Chicken $4.50 Dim Sum Special $5.50 CHINA BLUE I RESTAUANT | Tryourdnrerstoo1 | •791. 1StR • unun %»•« to WO iortMor* • MS-3932 BUY ONE. iGET ONE' FREE ANY MENU ITEM “TC8V The Country*, Be*t htqurt. f n itteiiiti.: pNfl. vV K>-»«»<* »ulkl wt'li 4i>» »4hr( ,