On Thursday evening, 22 January 2015, a hate crime occurred in Washington Township, just outside the Borough of Elizabethville, at the home of a young African American woman. The woman, who had moved from Harrisburg to make a better life for herself and her two children was targeted by someone who placed a burning cross on her lawn. She was not home at the time the incident occurred. Neighbors put out the fire and the next day, when she returned to her home, she was told of the cross-burning, whereupon she called the State Police, who allegedly did not respond to her call for two days.
Unfortunately, the initial statements from authorities indicated that the cross-burning was being treated as an “isolated incident” and perhaps a “childish prank.” It was anything but!
State Police made the crime information public about a week after the cross-burning occurred so it was not until January 29, 2015 when the first reports began to appear in the media.
In the videos posted on line, the victim told of her fear for herself and her children. In those reports, the young woman also related prior incidents in which her car window was shot out and her home was broken into.
Fortunately, the response was quick and damning from some officials of the Christian [United Church of Christ, Lutheran, and Methodist] religious community in the area. A letter was sent to the Harrisburg Patriot-News by five Upper Dauphin County area ministers and published in its 15 February 2015 edition. That letter is reproduced in its entirety at the end of this blog post. The letter concluded with the following statement: “Shame on whoever committed this despicable act in Elizabethville. And shame on anyone who secretly condones such acts, or condones the attitudes that inspire such acts.”
On the same day that letter appeared, the Harrisburg affiliate of CBS reported that two white, teenage boys had been been charged with the crime. Since the boys were 14 and 17 years old, the case was referred to the Dauphin County Juvenile Court System and the names of the two boys were not released because of their ages. The local newspapers, the Upper Dauphin Sentinel (Millersburg) and the Citizen-Standard (Valley View) specified the charges levied against the two juveniles as ethnic intimidation [hate crime], arson, reckless burning, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, and criminal conspiracy. The Sentinel also revealed that there was a second woman in the same apartment complex who had also been victimized and that the local YWCA was attempting to re-locate both women and their families to an area where they would feel safer.
Hate crimes do not occur in isolation. And, juveniles do not act in such a despicable manner unless they are directly influenced by adults. As the ministers stated in their letter, “Unless we teach our young people – and remind ourselves – about the atrocities once committed back in the days of legalized discrimination, we will never get past incidents such as this one.” The ministers also said: “Our school systems, churches and other organizations have worked hard to educate people concerning racist policies and attitudes; as well as to promote, at both the personal and the professional level, an attitude of acceptance and a goal of fair and equal treatment for all people.”
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First posted on the Civil War Blog, April 17, 2015.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
[African American]