By Mark David Blum, Esq.

It is pure fiction and utterly untrue that Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse give a damn about race relations in their jurisdiction. County Executive Joanie Mahoney, City Common Councilor Bill Ryan, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, and the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department are all engaged in a mass media manipulation. Residents are falling for it and coming away feeling satisfied.

To bring you up to speed: A couple of days ago a noose was found hung in the locker of a Black employee of the County of Onondaga. In case you haven’t been following the latest PC trend, “nooses” have become the newest targets of attack. Bans on nooses are being implemented. Laws against nooses are being enacted. Nooses are now being used by Whites to show hostility toward Blacks. The noose is now on the loose.

Upon the discovery thereof, the entire County Management went into crisis mode. Ms. Mahoney was on the public airwaves condemning the act and promising a full investigation. The District Attorney is doing background checks and the Sheriff’s Department is fully investigating all employees. By gum, they are going to find the perpetrator who put that noose in that locker.

And so they should.

But, the outrage that is coat tailing needs to be called out for its hypocrisy. Syracuse Common Councilor Ryan announced his desire to create a “multicultural affairs office to help recruit a diverse city work force and handle race and gender discrimination and sexual harassment.” Mr. Ryan just loves to spend City money on race issues. Remember the $35,000.00 spent on studies of Syracuse Police relations in the community? It mattered not that two reports came back showing Blacks in Syracuse being seriously mistreated and disproportionately arrested and prosecuted. Mr. Ryan ignores these reports. In Onondaga County, Blacks are 40 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes or public order offences and 99 times more likely to be imprisoned than are Whites. Ryan’s solution is to hand out more patronage jobs and raise your taxes.

As an attorney, to me it is obvious why there is such government outrage at the noose while at the same time ignoring major racial problems in the County. There is only one reason that justifies their behavior: Me. Not “me” personally but rather both entities – the City of Syracuse and County of Onondaga – need insulation from liability. If they fail to respond to the noose, they are seen as condoning the action and that prompts a lawsuit. As for Ryan, I am shocked to learn that as of 2008, he feels a need to actually “recruit a diverse city work force”. He should already have one. Having to create an agency to “handle race and gender discrimination and sexual harassment” in public employment at this point in history is a shame.

Walter Dixie, director of the National Action Network, Preston Fagan, president of the Syracuse-Onondaga County NAACP, Elton Davis, president of the Firefighters of Color United in Syracuse, and Councilor Tom Seals all share the blame. In their meetings with the Mayor and County Executive, will the discussion focus on nooses or will these so-called advocates of the Black community highlight the real truth of the Black experience in Syracuse. For decades, these leaders sat quiet and let their communities feed upon themselves for no other reason than to protect their political fiefdoms.

One noose in a janitor’s locker is offensive. It is nowhere near as offensive or violent as are dozens of police/citizen encounters on a daily basis. But a municipality can defend itself against a citizen with much more ease than they can from a suit from within. Besides, a suit from within government is not good come re-election time when union support is needed.

Speaking of lawsuits: Ironic is how the situation is so bad that when citizens do sue the City of Syracuse, the City moves the cases from State Court to Federal Court. I believe they do so to hide from juries of their own communities. Civil rights laws were enacted to give citizens a place to bring an action against a government for its illegal activities. When governments go running for federal shelter; that speaks volumes of their fear of their own citizens.

So yes, “bullshit” is called. All this noise about a noose is mere political puffery and legal insulation. I doubt Mr. Ryan or Ms. Mahoney know the affected janitor’s name. Will the District Attorney and Sheriffs Department conclude no “crime” was committed (as do I) or will the perpetrator be hung in the public square?

In the end, it saddens me to think that, together with cooperation of the Black leadership, this community is just going to continue its whitewash of the real horror and racial divide in Onondaga County. The bullshit will just continue.

I do have one question that has been nagging at me. It was recently announced that the population of Onondaga County fell by 1,000 last year. Perhaps someone has a minute to investigate how many citizens our courts send to State prison last year and what was their racial make up. Could it be that most of the missing 1,000 are probably scattered about the State Prison system?