Editor’s note: This article contains details about the usage of racial slurs.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo condemned the racist graffiti found in Day Hall in a five-minute speech Tuesday at Syracuse Hancock International Airport.

“It’s wrong; it’s hurtful. I expect my fellow citizens to stand up,” Cuomo said. “When they get attacked, I stand up for them. One of us is attacked, all of us are attacked.”

The comments come a day after Cuomo directed the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to investigate the incident.

Several times, Cuomo equated the comments to attacks on him and his family for being Italian American. He mentioned stereotypes of being in the mafia as one from outlets like the New York Post and the Times Union.

“You make an anti-African American statement, you are attacking me,” Cuomo said. “You make an anti-Asian statement, you are attacking me. You make an anti-LGBTQ statement, you are attacking me.”

Racial slurs against black and Asian people were found on Day Hall’s fourth and six floors Wednesday night. Students from both floors took part in two meetings to discuss the incidents. The student body wasn’t notified of the incident until about 5 p.m. Monday night, almost five days later.

Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud apologized Tuesday for not acting quicker. Cuomo said he did not have a comment on the university’s response time.

The governor did not mention a radio show appearance in October when he used the N-word — one of the slurs written in Day Hall — to make a point about derogatory terms against Italians.

In his speech and later during a press conference with only media outlets, Cuomo said several times that Day Hall’s racist comments are an attack on everyone, not just those involved.

“The comments written in Syracuse University were written about all of us,” Cuomo said. “And we are all outraged and we all have zero tolerance for such an attack.”

The task force, along with the State Division of Human Rights, was directed to investigate the act at 7 p.m. Monday, about two hours after SU released its first public statement.

Cuomo wants to see the university take this situation “very seriously” and do its best to find out what happened.

SU has dealt with other bias-related incidents in the past two years. The Theta Tau engineering fraternity was expelled in April 2018 for an “extremely racist” video, and students were targeted in a racially-charged assault along Ackerman Avenue in February.

When asked if previous incidents drove him to employ state investigators, Cuomo did not specify a link.

“It’s every incident. It’s not just about Syracuse University,” Cuomo said. “It’s all over the state. But wherever it is, we take it seriously.”

“We want an answer. We want everybody working as hard as they can. And we want it condemned. Period.”

Published on November 12, 2019 at 1:18 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman