In the wake of hate, the law is not always enough
In 2011, racist graffiti was found on the homes of three refugee families in Concord. Monitor file
Vandals penned racist graffiti on the homes of three African refugee families in the South End of Concord, including at the Perley Street home of a Somali Bantu family on September 18, 2011. Alexander Cohn
Ray Stevens listens as his attorney makes his case before the judge sentenced him in Merrimack Superior Court in 2015. Monitor file
Published: 4/11/2021 7:00:05 PM
In 2015, a tattoo artist named Raymond Stevens pleaded guilty to criminal mischief after defacing the homes of refugees in Concord with racist graffiti.
CONCORD In 2015, a tattoo artist named Raymond Stevens pleaded guilty to criminal mischief after defacing the homes of refugees in Concord with racist graffiti.
The hateful words scrawled on the siding were literal and clear: You are not welcome here. Under the state s Civil Rights Act, prosecutors applied a hate crime enhancement to Stevens sentence, resulting in a year of imprisonment in a county jail.
Hate crimes are often referred to as message crimes those that target and intimidate an entire group as well as the direct victim. In a 2012 study published in the International Review of Victimology, researchers found that people who were aware of hate-based violence against someone in their community experienced similar symptoms to victims of vicarious trauma, reporting feelings of shock, anger, fear and inferiority.
PORTSMOUTH – The inaugural Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Seacoast Leaders awards ceremony Sunday night, Feb. 28, went well and will be an annual event, according to organizers.
Clifton West Jr., one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter Seacoast, the host organization for the event, said he was pleased with the evening.
“It went better than I thought it would, for the first time,” said West. “I found the stories that were told, and the passion displayed inspiring. It was such a beautiful event. I look forward to the next one.”
The event is intended to highlight people of color whose work has benefitted the Seacoast region.