Another cold slap in the face; we have a race problem
Yes, America still has a race problem.
We did not need the events that transpired in Charlottesville, Va., to remind us of that, though it certainly put the issue back on the front burner.
The sight of young white men carrying Tiki torches and chanting disgusting racial drivel such as “Blood and Soil” and “Jews will not replace us” has a tendency to get noticed.
So does the death of a 32-year-old woman when a white supremacist slams his car into a group of counter-protesters, injuring 19 other people as well.
But this kind of hate is not limited to the Deep South.
And all you need to reinforce that is a quick glance of some Neanderthal’s handiwork the last few days in Chester County.
Residents is the Coatesville area were greeted Wednesday morning with an ugly reminder that race remains very much a problem.
Racist graffiti was discovered spray-painted on a local store, as well as on a Mercedes-Benz, and a garage door.
This was not just your run-of-the-mill graffiti. This garbage carried a distinct message. Among the things scrawled on property were swastikas and racial slurs. Yes, that includes the N-word.
Multiple other sites in Valley Township, just outside Coatesville, also were targeted, including street signs and several markings on pavement.
The message was clear. Hate still resides among us.
Late Wednesday night, Coatesville police announced they had arrested a 24-year-old city man. George F. Rissell of Coatesville was charged with multiple counts of ethnic intimidation and criminal mischief.
According to a press release issued by police in connection with the arrest, Rissell has claimed past associations with white supremacy groups.
Even before an arrest was made, local officials were quick to condemn the racist vandalism.
State Rep. Harry Lewis, R-74, of Caln, knows the area well. He is a former educator at Coatesville High School.
“Our community can do better,” Lewis said. “This isn’t the real Coatesville. Our home takes pride in our racial differences, and our home stands tall for equality.”
Lewis is right. This is not the real Coatesville. Just as those angry young men with their Tiki torches were not the real Charlottesville.
But they are a part of Coatesville. And every other town in America.
Racism has not gone away. It’s still very much present.
The key is to speak out against such acts. And follow that up with action.
“Our community has come too far to stop fighting. We’ve broken too many barriers,” said Lewis, the first African-American legislator to represent Chester County in Harrisburg. “We won’t tolerate the hatred.”
His was not the only voice raised against such blatant symbols of hate.
State Sen. Andy Dinniman did not mince words.
“Let me be perfectly clear: There is absolutely no room for this kind of hate in our communities. Not now. Not here in Chester County. Not anywhere,” Dinniman said.
But that’s in fact the issue. It is here. It’s in Chester County. It’s in Delaware County. It’s in Philadelphia. Race colors almost every issue in our society.
Want an example? Let’s talk about school funding? Think it’s a coincidence that the poorest areas, those where students are predominantly those of color, have been shortchanged in school funding for years? Ask the people in the William Penn School District here in the eastern end of Delaware County if they believe race plays a role in that?
Race isn’t going away. The debate that engulfed the country after Charlottesville, and the swirling controversy that erupted over President Trump’s varying statements on the situation, are proof of that.
Racism continues to raise its ugly head, only most of the time it’s not as blatant as this week’s vandalism in Chester County.
Most of the time, it’s unspoken.
Dinniman vowed that “cowards who vandalize under cover of night will not intimidate us. The steel of our communities is in our diversity. The strength of our nation is our unity. The hate of those who cannot respect their neighbors has no place in our community.”
He’s right. But that isn’t going to make it go away.
More than 150 years after blood was shed in an attempt to eradicate slavery and save the Union, the country remains divided. By race. It was evident in Charlottesville. And it’s evident here in the suburbs as well.