How would you react if someone spray-painted a hate slur on your home? Would you respond the way that Lexene Charles and his wife Heather Lindsay did when they came home one day to discover the n-word scrawled on their garage? After reporting the crime to the police, rather than remove the offensive language, the couple decided to leave it up to highlight that pervasiveness of intolerance.
The Stamford, Conn., couple’s choice seems to have sparked a different sort of intolerance. After the slur had been on display for a while, neighbors complained and local officials threatened to fine the couple $100 a day if they didn’t scrub their garage clean.
Charles and Lindsay refused, arguing that this attack was merely the latest in a wave of prejudice aimed at them. Charles, who is black, and Lindsay, who is white, claim that bigots have continually hurled racial remarks at them. As a result, they said they would not remove the smear until police caught the culprits. They even turned down the municipality’s offer to pay for the word’s removal.
So far, fines have totaled more than $3,600, so I suppose it’s worth asking whether the couple’s decision to leave the slur is truly justified.
I think so. When you’ve been victimized more than once in the past, and feel like your voice hasn’t been loud enough, you’ll go to any lengths to finally be heard. And hey, if it takes boldly highlighting the bigotry that continues to exists within your community to force those around you to pay attention, then so be it.
It’s the reaction of neighbors that I find most interesting, and by interesting, I mean terrible. I get it, no one wants their kids playing on a street where a home is brandished by a hate slur. It’s uncomfortable for people, as it should be. But I’m sure it’s ten times more distressing for Charles and Lindsay. Perhaps those complaining that the couple has not washed away the slur need instead think about the dire pain the couple must feel to have made such a decision. And so surely, if the couple can live with the slandered home, then their neighbor should, as well.
And what I really mean by that is the neighbors should share the pain. A racist attack on one home is really an attack on the whole community. Rather than target outrage at Charles and Lindsay, neighbors should instead focus their disgust on the fact that the incident happened in the first place. You can wash away some paint, but you can’t wash away hatred that easily.
Racism still exists. The neighbors who insist on erasing the word are probably the same ones who would most benefit from its visual persistence.
