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| |  | | | A disturbing coda to the election of Barack Obama has been a spike in racist hate crimes -- and not just in the South. As Hannah Strange reports this week, "Cross burnings, black figures hung from nooses, and schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama" are just some of the incidents that have been documented by police from California to Maine." In New York, a black teenager said he was attacked with a bat on election night by four white men who shouted "Obama," while in the Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills, a black man said he found a note with a racial slur on his car windshield, saying "now that you voted for Obama, just watch out for your house." In Springfield, Massachusetts, a church still under construction that was to house the mostly black congregation of the Macedonia Church of God was burned to the ground. The New York Times described the church's pastor: "Sitting there, stunned, emotional, Bishop Robinson sought context for what had just occurred: a black president is elected, a black church is burned. He thought of dreams realized and dreams denied. 'It was so close I could taste it,' he says. 'I could just see it.'" The good news is that these types of crimes, which did little do intimidate communities of color from voting on election day, reek of the desperation of hate-filled people who cannot cope with their waning influence. The sobering news is that their crimes are an ugly reminder of the work left to be done in creating a more equal and just society. Thanks for reading, Liliana Segura Editor, Rights & Liberties Special Coverage | | | | PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web | | | | |
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