Hate Is Not Innate: Making Sense Of Graffiti In Gordonsville

Orange Review
Published: March 6, 2008

Gordonsville police are looking into several instances of vandalism that occurred at different locations within the town last weekend.

According to Gordonsville Chief of Police Chris Spare, vandals spray-painted racist messages on private property near Baker Street. Police were later informed that additional graffiti was found in another part of town.

The scrawled graffiti, the chief said, included the letters KKK, NAACP and a swastika.

“This wasn’t a good job,” Spare said. “I have my suspicions about the age and such of the person or persons who did it.”

Spare said the vandal could initially be charged with trespassing and vandalism, but if the crime appears to be racially motivated, the charges could become more serious.
“If you can determine it’s a hate crime, you can enhance those charges,” Spare said.

Town council member Avis Beasley said she expected town officials would discuss the vandalism. The town council meets Monday.

It was just over a year ago that a local television station aired a story about a Ku Klux Klan “office” in Gordonsville.

As far as we could tell, that “office” constituted a post office box. There was no store front. No recruiting post. There have been no rallies. No demonstrations.  And the good folks of Gordonsville have guaranteed these seeds of hate find no fertile ground.

Still, the graffiti, whether done by overzealous amateurs or not raises some serious concerns.

If this was the work of children, they chose their graffiti because they thought it would evoke a response. And why would they think that? Because they hear it at home.

Children model their behavior after adults. They learn through our actions. Hate is not innate. It’s a learned behavior.

If we harbor any hope at all for a truly free society where we are all equal, we must enlighten our children and teach them that we are all one people. Most importantly, we must show them through our respect of all peoples–regardless of differences in race or religion.