I received an email from one of the victims of the attack last weekend, someone I know casually. The garage door of their house was tagged with “KKK FUCK NIGGERS.” Two of the residents were white while the other was biracial. The police believe it was a target of opportunity either struck along the way or as an afterthought because the main target appeared to be a street over–an African-American family whose home was apparently much more extensively hit with graffiti described as “white supremacist.”
The troubling aspect to the individual involved and to a number of people I have since spoken with is the apparent lack of response in Davis either by the Davis Police Department and small and scant coverage in the newspaper.
The police detective the victim spoke with speculated that not much will happen to the culprits–both of them students at Davis High School. At most they’ll receive probation and have community service and pay a fine.
The police describe this as a high school friendship situation that got out of control.
“‘This is high school tensions that got way out of hand,’ [Sgt. Scott] Smith said today. ‘Now these kids are looking at significant charges because they chose to resolve their friendship issues in the way that they did.’ “
Community leaders are concerned about this incident and also the lack of public outcry. But then again, what is the public to do when such stories are buried in the middle of the paper?
And yet it happened again–yesterday morning. This time at Holmes Junior High.
The Enterprise reports again a small article in the middle of the paper:
“Davis police are investigating as a hate crime an incident of graffiti discovered this morning at Holmes Junior High School.
An employee of the 1220 Drexel Drive school arrived on campus at about 7 a.m. to find the graffiti spray-painted with silver paint on lockers, windows and the gymnasium wall, Davis police Sgt. John Wilson said.
‘Some of it appeared to be gang-related, some of it appeared to be racially related, and some of it was just generally nasty,’ Wilson said. The racial content included derogatory terms for Asians and African-Americans, he added.
So far, no suspects have been identified, ‘but we’re still very early into it,’ Wilson said. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Davis Police Department at 747-5400.
The incident comes on the heels of another local hate crime in which graffiti, some of it targeting African-Americans, was spray-painted on the garages of two East Davis homes last weekend.
Davis police have cited a 17-year-old boy for vandalism with a hate-crime enhancement and have requested similar charges be filed against an 18-year-old male in connection with the crimes, which police said stemmed from friendship tensions among a group of Davis High School students. “
It is before Christmas. People are going on vacation. But we cannot just let these things drop. Come the first week of January this issue will be revisited. My friend, Jann Murray-Garcia has a late-breaking op-ed in the Davis Enterprise tomorrow on this very subject. The issue of hate crimes in Davis has come up again and again. Every time they think they have a handle on it, it comes back.
People are willing to dismiss this stuff as a high school dispute that got out of hand. I just cannot buy that. A community cannot afford to turn a blind eye when an incident with hatred embedded in racial terminology pops up. It has to deal with it head on to ensure that it happens never again in this community. That requires vigilance and it requires those in the position to both deal with the public and educate the public to step up and take strong and proactive stances. If they do not, these incidents will repeat, they will increase, and then we will have a real problem on our hands.
—Doug Paul Davis reporting
I completely concur. The police need to deal with these incidents in a very serious manner, and not simply chaulk it up to high school feuds. More troubling, though, is that this is a re-occurring problem in Davis. Where are the kids learning this behavior? And, more importantly, what are their parents doing about it? When I hear about a teenager doing something like this, I can’t help but think that they learn these attitudes from their parents.
Hate crimes are a very serious issue that should not be taken lightly. This is very troubling, indeed.
I completely concur. The police need to deal with these incidents in a very serious manner, and not simply chaulk it up to high school feuds. More troubling, though, is that this is a re-occurring problem in Davis. Where are the kids learning this behavior? And, more importantly, what are their parents doing about it? When I hear about a teenager doing something like this, I can’t help but think that they learn these attitudes from their parents.
Hate crimes are a very serious issue that should not be taken lightly. This is very troubling, indeed.
I completely concur. The police need to deal with these incidents in a very serious manner, and not simply chaulk it up to high school feuds. More troubling, though, is that this is a re-occurring problem in Davis. Where are the kids learning this behavior? And, more importantly, what are their parents doing about it? When I hear about a teenager doing something like this, I can’t help but think that they learn these attitudes from their parents.
Hate crimes are a very serious issue that should not be taken lightly. This is very troubling, indeed.
I completely concur. The police need to deal with these incidents in a very serious manner, and not simply chaulk it up to high school feuds. More troubling, though, is that this is a re-occurring problem in Davis. Where are the kids learning this behavior? And, more importantly, what are their parents doing about it? When I hear about a teenager doing something like this, I can’t help but think that they learn these attitudes from their parents.
Hate crimes are a very serious issue that should not be taken lightly. This is very troubling, indeed.
It’s good that community leaders like Jann are not letting this go unnoticed. Davis has a heritage of racial ignorance and leaders in the media, city, law-enforcement and university who don’t understand the gut-wrenching nature that racist remarks have on people of color. For many years the issue was shoved under the rug. As the population becomes more diverse with people from the Bay Area who will be less willing to accept second-class treatment, there will be change.
The fact that these stories are still relegated to the middle of the Enterprise is an indication that changes have not yet been embraced by Davis and that people who care will need to remain vigilant so that all the progress made does not go by the wayside.
It’s good that community leaders like Jann are not letting this go unnoticed. Davis has a heritage of racial ignorance and leaders in the media, city, law-enforcement and university who don’t understand the gut-wrenching nature that racist remarks have on people of color. For many years the issue was shoved under the rug. As the population becomes more diverse with people from the Bay Area who will be less willing to accept second-class treatment, there will be change.
The fact that these stories are still relegated to the middle of the Enterprise is an indication that changes have not yet been embraced by Davis and that people who care will need to remain vigilant so that all the progress made does not go by the wayside.
It’s good that community leaders like Jann are not letting this go unnoticed. Davis has a heritage of racial ignorance and leaders in the media, city, law-enforcement and university who don’t understand the gut-wrenching nature that racist remarks have on people of color. For many years the issue was shoved under the rug. As the population becomes more diverse with people from the Bay Area who will be less willing to accept second-class treatment, there will be change.
The fact that these stories are still relegated to the middle of the Enterprise is an indication that changes have not yet been embraced by Davis and that people who care will need to remain vigilant so that all the progress made does not go by the wayside.
It’s good that community leaders like Jann are not letting this go unnoticed. Davis has a heritage of racial ignorance and leaders in the media, city, law-enforcement and university who don’t understand the gut-wrenching nature that racist remarks have on people of color. For many years the issue was shoved under the rug. As the population becomes more diverse with people from the Bay Area who will be less willing to accept second-class treatment, there will be change.
The fact that these stories are still relegated to the middle of the Enterprise is an indication that changes have not yet been embraced by Davis and that people who care will need to remain vigilant so that all the progress made does not go by the wayside.
It’s good that community leaders like Jann are not letting this go unnoticed. Davis has a heritage of racial ignorance and leaders in the media, city, law-enforcement and university who don’t understand the gut-wrenching nature that racist remarks have on people of color. For many years the issue was shoved under the rug. As the population becomes more diverse with people from the Bay Area who will be less willing to accept second-class treatment, there will be change.
The fact that these stories are still relegated to the middle of the Enterprise is an indication that changes have not yet been embraced by Davis and that people who care will need to remain vigilant so that all the progress made does not go by the wayside.
Thanks to the Davis Vanguard for keeping interracial relations in the public eye.
It’s good that community leaders like Jann are not letting this go unnoticed. Davis has a heritage of racial ignorance and leaders in the media, city, law-enforcement and university who don’t understand the gut-wrenching nature that racist remarks have on people of color. For many years the issue was shoved under the rug. As the population becomes more diverse with people from the Bay Area who will be less willing to accept second-class treatment, there will be change.
The fact that these stories are still relegated to the middle of the Enterprise is an indication that changes have not yet been embraced by Davis and that people who care will need to remain vigilant so that all the progress made does not go by the wayside.
Thanks to the Davis Vanguard for keeping interracial relations in the public eye.
It’s good that community leaders like Jann are not letting this go unnoticed. Davis has a heritage of racial ignorance and leaders in the media, city, law-enforcement and university who don’t understand the gut-wrenching nature that racist remarks have on people of color. For many years the issue was shoved under the rug. As the population becomes more diverse with people from the Bay Area who will be less willing to accept second-class treatment, there will be change.
The fact that these stories are still relegated to the middle of the Enterprise is an indication that changes have not yet been embraced by Davis and that people who care will need to remain vigilant so that all the progress made does not go by the wayside.
Thanks to the Davis Vanguard for keeping interracial relations in the public eye.
It’s good that community leaders like Jann are not letting this go unnoticed. Davis has a heritage of racial ignorance and leaders in the media, city, law-enforcement and university who don’t understand the gut-wrenching nature that racist remarks have on people of color. For many years the issue was shoved under the rug. As the population becomes more diverse with people from the Bay Area who will be less willing to accept second-class treatment, there will be change.
The fact that these stories are still relegated to the middle of the Enterprise is an indication that changes have not yet been embraced by Davis and that people who care will need to remain vigilant so that all the progress made does not go by the wayside.
Thanks to the Davis Vanguard for keeping interracial relations in the public eye.
Our general region(east of the Bay area) was known as one of the USA centers of white supremacy followers into the 70’s. This history is generally unknown to most current residents. Hopefully, white supremacy believers are becoming an endangered species in our locale. Their ideas are propagated around the dinner table from one generation to another
and do not become extinct quickly or easily.
Our general region(east of the Bay area) was known as one of the USA centers of white supremacy followers into the 70’s. This history is generally unknown to most current residents. Hopefully, white supremacy believers are becoming an endangered species in our locale. Their ideas are propagated around the dinner table from one generation to another
and do not become extinct quickly or easily.
Our general region(east of the Bay area) was known as one of the USA centers of white supremacy followers into the 70’s. This history is generally unknown to most current residents. Hopefully, white supremacy believers are becoming an endangered species in our locale. Their ideas are propagated around the dinner table from one generation to another
and do not become extinct quickly or easily.
Our general region(east of the Bay area) was known as one of the USA centers of white supremacy followers into the 70’s. This history is generally unknown to most current residents. Hopefully, white supremacy believers are becoming an endangered species in our locale. Their ideas are propagated around the dinner table from one generation to another
and do not become extinct quickly or easily.
“Hopefully, white supremacy believers are becoming an endangered species in our locale.”
The culprits are not white. They are brown.
“Hopefully, white supremacy believers are becoming an endangered species in our locale.”
The culprits are not white. They are brown.
“Hopefully, white supremacy believers are becoming an endangered species in our locale.”
The culprits are not white. They are brown.
“Hopefully, white supremacy believers are becoming an endangered species in our locale.”
The culprits are not white. They are brown.
“Davis police have cited a 17-year-old boy for vandalism with a hate-crime enhancement and have requested similar charges be filed against an 18-year-old male in connection with the crimes, which police said stemmed from friendship tensions among a group of Davis High School students. “
I don’t understand. This blog states that the police are doing nothing, yet as you reported right here on your own blog, they have already arrested and charged someone with an vandalism with a HATE CRIME enhacement. What else would you have the Police do?
“Davis police have cited a 17-year-old boy for vandalism with a hate-crime enhancement and have requested similar charges be filed against an 18-year-old male in connection with the crimes, which police said stemmed from friendship tensions among a group of Davis High School students. “
I don’t understand. This blog states that the police are doing nothing, yet as you reported right here on your own blog, they have already arrested and charged someone with an vandalism with a HATE CRIME enhacement. What else would you have the Police do?
“Davis police have cited a 17-year-old boy for vandalism with a hate-crime enhancement and have requested similar charges be filed against an 18-year-old male in connection with the crimes, which police said stemmed from friendship tensions among a group of Davis High School students. “
I don’t understand. This blog states that the police are doing nothing, yet as you reported right here on your own blog, they have already arrested and charged someone with an vandalism with a HATE CRIME enhacement. What else would you have the Police do?