Racist Vandalism on Local Political Signs
By: Michaela MacDonald
Updated: October 22, 2012
Quantinette Richardson is one of many Democratic Party supporters in Lubbock to have their signs vandalized or stolen.
"It makes me upset, it makes me angry, and sometimes kind of scared for my safety because my front window is where my son sleeps at night and apparently that is when the vandalism is occurring," said Richardson.
On Sunday the Democratic Party of Lubbock held a press conference to discuss what they are now calling a hate crime.
"As of one A.M. this morning we can now add hate crimes to the list as two of our 4X4 signs at 26th and University were vandalized with the n-word written multiple times and mustard sprayed all over," said Kenny Ketner, chair of the Lubbock Democratic Party.
He says this hate speech is a community issue.
"This is not the 1950s, this is Lubbock 2012 and this kind of racist garbage is still unfortunately out there," said Ketner.
The problem isn't limited to any certain area. Marjorie Reynolds is a southwest Lubbock resident who woke up to find her three signs missing.
"My signs were gone, I was very disappointed in whoever would take those," said Reynolds.
Reynolds and the Democratic Party of Lubbock said they will continue to replace any signs that are taken. Ketner says this issue is especially pressing because early voting is set to begin this week.
