Benjamin Boothe didn’t mince words. The racial slurs that were painted at the entrance to his Lawrenceville subdivision are a form of terrorism.
“You’re terrorizing other people, you’re terrorizing them mentally,” he said. “They’re saying things about you to get you upset.”
The slurs, the n-word and an expletive, were painted on the Avington Glen sign early last Saturday. A nearby sign also was defaced with obscene images.
But Boothe said the attempt at intimidation didn’t work: It didn’t make him afraid.
Boothe, who is black, came to Gwinnett County from Jamaica five years ago. He said he thinks the perpetrators are “stupid and crazy” and that he hopes the vandalism is a poorly considered prank
Some of his neighbors question whether it was.
Chris Ingram said he thinks Avington Glen, a subdivision made up of primarily black residents, was intentionally targeted.
“I think there’s a lot of racial tension nationally,” said Ingram, who is black. “People are starting to exhibit outwardly their feelings toward African Americans.”
The latest incidents include the burning of several black churches in the South, and the racially motivated killing of nine black people at a Charleston church last month. A national push to remove the Confederate battle flag from public spaces also has created some hostilities. It all comes on top of a growing Black Lives Matter movement tied primarily to a series of police shootings that left black men around the country dead.
Ingram said he thinks the slurs are a backlash to those growing movements.
“Whoever did it was making attempts to intimidate,” he said. “The message I received from it is lock your doors, watch your back. That’s the kind of message I think it sends.”
The vandalism made 19-year-old Kevin Crawford uncomfortable. Crawford, who is black, said his neighborhood is usually quiet and secluded. His family moved from New York six years ago in part to avoid incidents like this, he said.
Considering what is happening nationally, Crawford said, the choice of words doesn’t seem like a coincidence. The teenager said he tends to keep to himself, but is now worried about what might happen in his neighborhood.
“You can imagine how surprising it is,” he said. “I would like people to know what certain words mean, how they could be offensive to some. …I’m going to be a little more wary of people now.”
Gwinnett County police are continuing to investigate the incident, and said Thursday they would welcome any information that would help identify the people responsible.
The perpetrators are likely teenagers trying to get attention, said Philip Kuruvila, a neighbor who is Asian. He said the words written on the sign are no different from what he hears at county parks and other public places, and he doesn’t want to dignify the vandalism with conversation.
“There’s no time to fool around with this nonsense,” he said. “They’re trying to create news. Those are the words that will trigger other people.”
Ingram said it’s important to discuss incidents like this, even if it makes people uncomfortable.
“The only way we’re going to stop it is if we do talk about it,” he said. “If they come back, I think it will escalate a bit. Now, it’s just an isolated incident. We’re just kind of watching.”
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