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The Onondaga County Legislature passed a resolution Tuesday, the first day of Black History Month, condemning the racist conduct of the county’s past leaders.

In 1795, the county Board of Supervisors, the legislature’s predecessor organization, assessed a property tax on Black people in the county, affirming that the board viewed Black people as property to be taxed.

Linda Ervin, a Democrat in the legislature, introduced the measure late Monday after learning about the Board of Supervisors’ past actions. Ervin, who was the Democratic leader until she stepped down last month, is one of two Black members of the 17-member county legislature.

“We knew there was slavery; we understood that. But because it was on the record, I felt like we should do something now to repudiate that and to condemn racism,” she said. “I thought it was just an easy thing to do, but it turns out not to be so easy.”

The measure passed unanimously, 16-0, but only after lengthy debate between the legislature’s Democrats and Republicans.

The original language of Ervin’s proposal included condemning systemic racist practices which continue today in addition to condemning the racist acts of the past. Some Republicans showed reluctance toward it.

“I’m not going to paint my community or my children or yours or his or anyone else’s with a broad brush when I don’t know them and I don’t know what they do,” Majority Leader Brian May, a Republican, told syracuse.com. “I just don’t think that’s fair.”

The word “systemic” was removed from the resolution, to the dismay of Ervin and other Democrats. May and recently elected Chairman Jim Rowley also noted that the vote was made more difficult due to its short notice, something Ervin admitted was unfortunate.

The Feb. 1 vote, while condemning the past, also acknowledges Black history, Ervin said.

“Black History Month is about celebrating and educating. That’s what I was doing — educating, correcting and improving,” she said. “It’s not all about the positives of what we’ve done in this county, we do that also … but denying there were problems then, as well as now, in this county is wrong.”

Tim Burtis, a Republican legislator, chose to leave the room right before the vote began. He returned to his seat after all remaining legislators voted in favor of the measure. Burtis later told syracuse.com that he would have abstained from the vote, something which is not possible for non-binding resolutions.

Charles Garland, the legislature’s other Black member and a Democrat, was dismayed that Burtis chose not to vote on the resolution.

“It was uncomfortable, for sure, but it’s a good reflection of what’s going on in our country,” Garland said. “It’s a reluctance to recognize our history,”

Though the resolution did pass, Ervin was let down by her colleagues’ debate on the topic, making the victory less than what it should have been, she said.

“The fact that we got something passed is a victory, yes. We have to compromise to get things done — half a loaf of bread is better than no bread at all,” Ervin said. “I got half a loaf of bread yesterday, but that’s OK.”

Published on February 2, 2022 at 8:44 pm

Contact Nick: [email protected] | @NickRobertsonSU