Stillwater, Oklahoma was no safe haven for Dunbar hoops star
BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK Staff Reporter lfitzpatrick@suntimes.com August 25, 2012 12:40AM
In this photo taken Jan. 26, 2011, Oklahoma State forward Darrell Williams is pictured during an NCAA college basketball game against Texas in Stillwater, Okla. Williams has been charged with a felony count of sexual battery and three felony counts of rape by instrumentation. The Payne County District Attorney's office filed the charges Monday, Feb. 7, 2011, against Williams. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
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Updated: October 12, 2012 10:59AM
STILLWATER, Okla. — This college town, where the dirt scratches red and the inhabitants bleed orange for Oklahoma State University, was supposed to be the salvation of Darrell Williams. The 6-foot-8 standout basketball player from Chicago’s Dunbar High School came here to learn, play basketball — and escape the Chicago violence that claimed his older brother. A 12-hour drive from Chicago, Stillwater sits about an hour between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. It’s a world away from the South Side — an overwhelmingly white enclave, run in large part, some here say, by good old boys with different rules for different races. In the words of one student, Stillwater’s “a very tough place for black people.” Instead of salvation, Williams, who is black, now sits in a jail cell, awaiting sentencing for rape his supporters insist he did not commit. In a surprise development, a judge postponed his sentencing Friday, citing possible new evidence. It was welcome news for the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other Williams supporters, who believe the 22-year-old is the real victim, judged for his race rather than any real crime. Jackson, Williams’ family and his supporters came here this week to speak out against Williams’ conviction. Not everyone in town was happy to see Jackson show up and criticize a jury’s verdict. Part of the town thinks the jury got it right. And although the Williams case has brought unwanted attention to town, some have embraced it, including courthouse workers posing for pictures with Jackson.
Stillwater’s borders hold 45,000 people, fewer than Chicago suburbs like Tinley Park or Oak Park. From Stillwater bars emerged a young country singer named Garth Brooks, and a local mix of classic rock and country and blues called Red Dirt Music. Every year for at least the last 20, folks celebrate a Calf Fry, where they eat fried bovine testicles and dance to Red Dirt bands. Some uniformed Payne County sheriff’s deputies wear cowboy hats, as do some defendants appearing for court. Ranches dot the main drag leading into Stillwater. So do BBQ joints. Parking tickets downtown — where you’re held to a fixed time though the spot is free— cost just $5. Oklahoma State University is this city’s engine, its largest employer, its center of gravity. “For some people, there’s just a draw to come back to Stillwater after graduating from school here,” said Mayor John Bartley. “There was just this pull for me. It amazed me how un-unusual that was.” He itched to move back once it came time to raise a family. The economy was growing.
The university provides a wider wealth of culture and entertainment than any ordinary American town of Stillwater’s size. It draws international students. “We have such a wide variety of people,” the 42-year-old mayor said. “There’s a lower percentage of African Americans than I would have thought.” Just 3.7 percent of Stillwater’s population is black. At OSU, 4.4 percent of the enrollment is black. Payne County is certainly safer than Cook County, several black Stillwater natives say. But for a young black man, they say, the rules here are different than in a city like Chicago. Maybe Darrell Williams’ mother didn’t realize that in her haste to distance her son from her city’s violence. “I can respect anybody trying to get out of that area,” said Richmond Collins, an OSU student and radio show host. “I would have told her to tell her son, be very, very, very careful, because he’s coming to a place where it’s just as oppressed as Chicago but on a different level. “I love Stillwater because I was born here, but I don’t like it because of the injustice that goes on,” Collins said. “It’s a very tough place for black people.” Bail bondsman James Manuel counts himself among the city’s few black business owners. “On campus is a different world than the town of Stillwater,” he said. “To be recruited by a big college like that is great. The campus is beautiful, they treat you like a king. The town of Stillwater is what I’m concerned about.” He says he sees in his daily job the different ways the races are treated. He stays because his family set down roots here. “I love this town. This is where my grandfather was, this is where my dad was, I was born here,” he said. “
Team needed Williams
Tyrone Bullock, Williams’ Dunbar basketball coach, said Williams felt he fit in Stillwater. He felt it from the first time he drove 12 hours to see the campus, crammed in the back of Bullock’s compact car. The basketball team needed the skills Williams honed at Dunbar; the university committed to educate him. He wanted his shot at the NBA but also the family’s first college degree. So he studied business. After being suspended in February from playing basketball, he earned a 4.0 GPA, said his aunt, Mildred Williams. He has two classes to go, and is set to graduate in December. Williams came to Stillwater after his older brother was shot in 2009 while visiting their grandmother in the Back of the Yards. After that, he received his mother’s blessing to dodge the violence in Chicago. But the prized member of the Cowboys basketball team, a head taller than most of the students walking around the campus and one of its relatively few African Americans, suffered a different sort of misfortune. According to Payne County, Williams is a rapist. He’s a 22-year-old felon. The jury that convicted him in July of two counts of rape by instrumentation for sticking his uninvited hands down the pants of two white women at a college house party recommended a two-year prison sentence for him. He insists he’s innocent, begging prosecutors to believe he was misidentified at the party. The decision on whether he will spend the next few years of his life behind bars in Oklahoma is now set for September. The new evidence in the case — now under a judge’s seal — is linked to a witness in the case. It surfaced late Thursday, causing the judge to delay Friday’s planned sentencing. He could proceed with sentencing or he could throw out the guilty verdicts and order a new trial. Williams’ family is drained from the travel and the uncertainty. But they’ll be coming back to Stillwater. So will Jesse Jackson. “We’ll be back,” he said. “We will be back.”
