Sticker Shock

Don't let hatred take root in your neighborhood.

by Anonymous

I've been a resident of the Rhawnhurst section of Northeast Philadelphia for more than 20 years. In that time, the neighborhood has gone from an entirely white community of Catholics and Jews to a more diverse population of Asians, Hispanics and African-Americans. I welcome the change my neighborhood has gone though. But someone here doesn't.

In early November, while walking to the store, I spied a sticker on a pole. The sticker decried immigration and urged the reader to support the preservation of the white race. Contact information for a Neo-Nazi organization was included. I was angry and heartsick that someone would spread this kind of hate in my community. I tore the sticker off the pole and threw it away.

But now, each time I walk in my neighborhood, I see more of these stickers. Little snatches of neon paper that ask for the support of the white man over all others, warn against the crimes immigrants commit, or advise that one can avoid contracting AIDS by not having sex with black men. Each new sticker I find meets the fate of the first one. It's an odd dance; as soon as I find and destroy one sticker, another takes its place.

The hatred and fear these simple pieces of paper rouse in me have been filling my days with anxiety. I'm suspicious of everyone I see and wonder if they're the person whose mind is so poisoned that they'd deface their own community. I want the whole city to know that somewhere in my neighborhood is a racist, and that they're attempting to breed fear and intolerance in the place that I call home.

You might think it's easy to stand up and proclaim what you know to be right. It's not. Yes, I thought this was something that people needed to know about. Still, I was unable to sign my name to this essay. I have no idea who exactly is trying to spread this hate, and in the age of the Internet it would be too easy for them to find out who I am — putting them at an advantage and me and my family in danger. At a time when people still hang nooses from trees, it's a short leap from posting a racist sentiment in public to turning that sentiment into physical violence.

I can take solace in the fact that there are people in my community who feel the same way I do, even if I don't know who they are. Sometimes the stickers are already torn down when I get to them. I even found one with a peace sign drawn on it.

I want to tell the people of Rhawnhurst — the people of this entire city — to not let your neighborhoods be taken over by small-minded racists who only want to spread hate. Standing up for your neighborhood means standing up for everything and everyone that makes it good. Get to know your neighbors. Even a smile and a wave as you're putting the trash on the curb can go a long way toward fostering community and makes it that much harder to breed intolerance.

Remove the signs of hate wherever you encounter them: Tear down stickers; don't let a racist comment go unchallenged. Let it be known that you care about your community and want it to be safe and welcoming for everyone. Today it is merely stickers; tomorrow it could be harassment or worse. I suggest we all heed mayor-elect Michael Nutter's "call to public service" by defending our neighborhoods from those who want to tear them down, just because they can't see past their own skin.

Anonymous is a Rhawnhurst resident.