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‘Hate will have no home in Fallsburg'

Racist graffiti found near SUNY Sullivan

Patricio Robayo - Staff Writer
Posted 6/1/20

LOCH SHELDRAKE — Marcia A. Florence decided to go for a walk around the SUNY Sullivan campus last week while waiting for her daughter's car to be serviced at a nearby auto repair shop.

While …

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‘Hate will have no home in Fallsburg'

Racist graffiti found near SUNY Sullivan

Posted

LOCH SHELDRAKE — Marcia A. Florence decided to go for a walk around the SUNY Sullivan campus last week while waiting for her daughter's car to be serviced at a nearby auto repair shop.

While walking, she came upon a “Do Not Enter” sign that was defaced with racist graffiti near the entrance to the college.

The graffiti read, “It's pronounced [N-Word].”

She said she was shocked when she saw the sign.

A photo of the sign was soon posted to Facebook, and the local authorities were alerted to the vandalism, and by nightfall, the sign had been covered with plastic and tape.

Florence said, “Some people in the world are getting out of hand. We are to love one another; we are the human race.”

Town of Fallsburg Supervisor Steve Vegliante told the Democrat that the sign would be taken down soon, and the Fallsburg Police Department is investigating the situation.

“The vile damage done to the sign in Loch Sheldrake just strengthens my resolve to practice and preach compassion and respect rather than allow myself to accept hate and division. We must all speak truth to that hate and say in as clear a voice as possible that hate will have no home in Fallsburg. The sign will be repaired in short order. If it inspires us to never tolerate bigotry and bias, then we as a community can benefit for a lifetime,” said Vegliante.

According to The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education, 25 percent of SUNY Sullivan's student body is Black or African American or Hispanic or Latino. The sign is posted near the campus.

According to SUNY Sullivan President Jay Quaintance, “It is truly awful that vandals defaced a road sign near campus with racist hate speech. SUNY Sullivan does not tolerate this type of activity and is an inclusive community of educators and learners.”

The hateful writing comes during a time when protests and riots are currently going on across the country, and in Europe, over the murder of George Floyd, by former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. Recently Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder.

At the same time, a recent video surfaced on social media that showed a Village of Monticello employee allegedly spewing racist remarks about another employee.

The Sullivan County, Human Rights Commission, released a statement about the incident, “The Sullivan County Human Rights Commission strongly condemns the racist remarks and postings that have recently appeared in our community. Any language that denigrates a group of people, such as the N-word, is never acceptable. This difficult time of social isolation and increased anxiety makes it especially important to come together, to help each other, and to speak out for the dignity of all our residents. We strongly condemn all divisive activity and language.”

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