Our reader: DPS has responsibility to inform SU community about Ackerman Avenue assault
Dear editor,
In the early morning hours of Feb. 9, it was reported that Syracuse University students were assaulted with a handgun in the University Neighborhood. SU’s Department of Public Safety promptly sent out a safety notice, writing in part, “… students reported being approached by an unknown female in the 800 block of Ackerman Avenue. The students say the female displayed what appeared to be a silver handgun and struck the students with the gun.”
According to statements published on thetab.com on Feb. 11, DPS failed to inform the campus community of the racial motivations of this attack. This omission is unacceptable and potentially dangerous for people of color. According to thetab.com, a white woman struck a black SU student with a pistol, while a white man used a racial slur and attacked a black SU student. DPS released another statement shortly after thetab.com article, saying in part:
“Acts of violence and intolerance of any kind, including those based on race, contradicts our values and will not be tolerated … The information in the public safety notice includes a brief and the most current description of the crime and the perpetrator as described by the victim or witnesses. SU does not identify a perpetrator’s race in these alerts in deference to previously expressed community concerns about racial profiling.”
If a crime with racial machinations has been reported to public safety officials, this must be publicly confirmed immediately. Transparency that an assault with facially racial motivations has occurred is not racial profiling. When a white person strikes a black person while yelling a racial epithet, it is a racially-motivated crime. It is no longer an isolated attack, but an attack against a group. It is racist. In its duty to protect this community, DPS has an obligation to inform us when crimes occur so we may take the appropriate safety precautions. The racial component of this crime is an integral piece of public safety information. DPS failed us — and especially people of color — in this responsibility. DPS should give students of color the opportunity to take the safety precautions they deem appropriate. As a white man at SU, it is my obligation to reject any institutional attempts to whitewash the presentation of a racially-motivated crime on the basis of a claimed fear of racial profiling. What is more consequential is giving members of our community the information they need to live safely.
Sincerely,
Nicholas Croce
Social Science Doctoral Student
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Syracuse University