An interracial couple in Connecticut said they will not remove the racial slur from the garage door of their home, despite being issued a blight citation that carries a $100 daily fine.
Heather Lindsay and her husband Lexene Charles found the n-word spray-painted on their home. The incident occured on the weekend leading up to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Lindsay told the Stamford Advocate on Monday that the slur will not be removed until “authorities do their job” and “not just cover it up and sweep it under the table as they have done in the past.”
Lindsay said their home has been vandalized multiple times and at least three of her neighbors have yelled racial slurs at her husband.
The local and state chapters of the NAACP condemned the incident and denounced city officials over their response.
“For them to be called n----, it must be so hurtful that they can easily just erase the board and suffer within, quietly by themselves, and act like nothing happened,” said Darnell Crosland, legal counsel for the state chapter of the NAACP. “And in fact, that’s what the Stamford police asked them to do. They were requested to take the sign down... and to just act normal, like nothing happened.”
Crosland called on Stamford police to conduct a full investigation.
Authorities said they were investigating the case, but were having a difficult time finding witnesses.
Stamford director of public safety Ted Jankowski said the police department repeatedly offered to remove the slur from the house at no cost, but the couple refused.
“The neighbors were very upset when the incident occurred and truly felt for the couple,” Jankowski said in a statement. “However, the residents who have condemned the racial incident are upset and are complaining about continuing to see the racial slur and how it is disturbing the peace in the quiet neighborhood.”
Lindsay has a foreclosure trial on her house set for March 7. She and her husband have lived in the house since 1999, The Stamford Advocate reported.
Supporters of the couple want authorities to question three specific neighbors who Lindsay claims have discriminated against the couple in the past.
“We want those people investigated,” the family’s attorney Andre Cayo said. “We want those doors knocked on. We want their basements to be searched for spray cans.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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