Black officers recall days of discrimination on Youngstown force

YOUNGSTOWN

If you had to work with people who turned their backs on you in the elevator, that would be bad enough.

But a boss? They’re supposed to be in positions of authority because they’re fair and responsible. They’re supposed to have your back when you’re just doing your job.

Robert E. Bush Jr., who would go on to become Youngstown’s first black police chief in 2002, remembers when the police department was, like departments all across the country, a hostile and discriminatory environment for its black officers.

That was the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.

He remembers getting into an elevator full of white officers, only to have them turn their backs, he told a crowd gathered Saturday at the McGuffey Centre for a presentation on the history of the Black Knights Police Association.

There was also a far cry from congratulations for his performance on a civil service test, which police departments use to qualify candidates for promotions.

“I was walking on the second floor one day,” he said, when a captain he didn’t work for called him over.

“And he said, ‘Aren’t you Bush? I heard you passed the civil service test?’”

“And I said, ‘Yes, fifth on the list.’”

“He looked at me and he said, ‘Well, you wasn’t supposed to.’”

“That’s the kind of thing that was going on during those days,” he continued.

Read more about those days and some who overcame the race bias in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.