Hang in there.

When Hillary ran in 2000 I had at least two and probably three lawn signs vandalized .Put up another one, went to the police and complained and this one was left alone. I wondered what sort of reception my complaint would receive assuming that the police probably supported her opponent- particularly since I live on Long Island which he represented as a populur local congressman.

But I was treated correctly.

Assuming you have at least reasonable confidence in your local police I'd suggest telling them , citing the "broken window" theory which Guiliani invoked in getting rid of the obnoxious but harmless "window cleaners" at NYC traffic lights.

Kids who get away with something that's minor are then tempted to go one step further. Then another.Sadly that was true of me at that age.

You'd actually be doing them a favor if you could get the police to send them a message to knock it off. Chances are the one or another of the cops has a kid who knows those kids and that route could be used.

I'm sorry you were subjected to that. It must be upsetting.

Libgirl, where do you live?

Love this story :). Just to add to the variations on a theme.

When my kids were still in school, the neighborhood adolescent thugs were - the children of the cop who had a take home car!

I moved away when my nest emptied so I have no idea how they turned out.

YOU SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION TO WHERE THE USA IS GOING "AFTER" OBAMA IS ELECTED. THE FIRST BILL IS ON HOLD UNTIL OBAMA IS REIGNING> CAN AMERICA AFFORD REPARATION AND A WAR IN AFRICA?

FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS:

H.RES.194
Title: Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of
African-Americans.
Sponsor: Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] (introduced 2/27/2007) Cosponsors
(120)
Latest Major Action: 7/29/2008 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On
motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended
Agreed to by voice vote.
————————————————– ——————————
SUMMARY AS OF:
2/27/2007–Introduced.

Acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and
inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow. Apologizes to African-Americans
on
behalf of the U.S. people for the wrongs committed against them and
their ancestors. Commits to rectifying the lingering consequences of
slavery and Jim Crow and to stopping future human rights violations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

S. CON. RES. 25 (ES) Whereas in 2005 the Government of Zimbabwe launched Operation Murambatsvina (`Operation Throw Out the Trash') against citizens in major cities and suburbs throughout Zimbabwe, depriving... (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 7
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2007/06/26
Committee: Senate Foreign Relations

S. CON. RES. 25 (RS) Condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil society. (Reported in Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 7
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2007/06/26
Committee: Senate Foreign Relations

S. 1513 (IS) Predominantly Black Institution Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 0
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2007/05/24
Committee: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

S. 1790 (IS) Communities of Color Teen Pregnancy Prevention Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 2
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2007/07/16
Committee: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

S. CON. RES. 46 (IS) Whereas Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited blood disorder that is a major health problem in the United States, primarily affecting African Americans; (Introduced in Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 0
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2007/09/17
Committee: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

S. RES. 383 (IS) Honoring and recognizing the achievements of Carl Stokes, the first African-American mayor of a major American city, in the 40th year since his election as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. (Introduced in Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 2
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2007/11/15
Committee: Senate Judiciary

S. RES. 600 (ATS) Whereas 44 years ago, on June 21, 1964, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner were murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi, while working in the name of American democracy... (Agreed to by Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 3
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2008/06/24
Committee:

S. CON. RES. 53 (IS) Expressing the sense of Congress that any effort to impose photo identification requirements for voting should be rejected. (Introduced in Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 23
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2005/09/20
Committee: Senate Rules and Administration

S. CON. RES. 42 (IS) Recognizing the historical significance of Juneteenth Independence Day, and expressing the sense of Congress that history should be regarded as a means for understanding the past and... (Introduced in Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 2
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2005/06/15
Committee: Senate Judiciary

S. AMDT. 1264 To support a United States contribution to the Special Court for Sierra Leone. WESTERN AFRICA
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 3
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2005/07/19
Committee:

S. 2125 (RS) Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2005 (Reported in Senate)
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack
Cosponsors: 12
Chamber: Senate
Date: 2006/12/22
Committee: Senate Foreign Relations, House International Relations

Got to love the asshooles of america hmmm. I have never been called a n-bomb to my face, probably because someone would be brutally damaged but subtly I can tell when someone is being condescending. It goes with the territory, some people are just to ignorant to think coherently.

I don't think it counts unless they also add "dirty, commie, New York Jew." Probably they were driving by too fast to get it all in.

I have for most of my life tried to figure out what was behind the black/white thing in this country. It just fascinates me. It's so huge, so entrenched, people who were not alive during slavery, or reconstruction, or even the civil rights wars, are still, up in arms.

I think part of it is white privilege, not wanting to give that up. And by "privilege" I mean things like applying for a job and being judged on your resume, going to a store and not being followed, seeing yourself represented on most major television shows. (complete list here: http://mmcisaac.faculty.asu.edu/emc598ge/Unpacking.html)

I think another component is thinking that there must be a revenge gene in blacks. That if whites were mistreated in the same way blacks were, they would, when it was their turn to rule, turn the tables, and be as cruel, as unfair, as mean as they could be.

This doesn't seem to be the case with most blacks. There is an anger, but it's mostly just a "let me have my share", not "let me have it all" cry.

I had a similar experience handing out flyers for an Obama fundraiser I was organizing here in Boston. I was at a supermarket and the very first woman who I approached leaned over, squinted at my flyer and practically shouted, "What! I ain't votin' for nu f***in' n*****!"
,br>
It needs to be said that she was the ONLY person who acted in that fashion, and she very much struck me as a throwback to a different era in Boston that, thank God, I am sure is passed.
,br>On a brighter note, I had an opposite experience. I stopped into a black beauty salon. It was a large room and three walls were lined with women under hair dryers. I'm white and I got a lot of curious stares until the proprietor, who was applying stuff to a client's hair, called me over to ask what I wanted. When I told her I was looking to leave flyers for an Obama fundraiser at the customer desk, she said, "Obama! Give one to everybody here. Start there," and pointed to the customer I should start with. I did as I was told and walked out of there feeling good.

I live on the outskirts of Wahington, D.C. - in Maryland, in Prince Georges County - my neighborhood is predominitly black and a few older whites that didn't take flight - I've had a few southern MD red-neck boys scream obscenities at me, but surprisingly they were about my Prius, not my Obama bumper sticker! I'm not sure they can read...

But one of the really great things that has happened (I'm a 51 year old white female) when I wear my Obama t-shirts out & about I've had checkers reopen the line for me at the grocery, guards walk me to my car after dark, and people just acting down right happier and friendlier to see a white woman wearing an Obama shirt!!

I had one young girl come up to me and ask "No Sarah Palin for you?" and I had to laugh as I told her that "we needed to send that redneck back up north where she belongs!"
She started clapping.

There is an automatic assumption in my neighborhood that all the white people will vote for McCain, and they could be right - most are military retirees in their 70's & 80's. So far I am the ONLY one I've seen with a bumper sticker and a yard sign for any candidate.

I'm surprised that so many liberals are so proud to be running into racism as they show their support for Obama. It smacks of smug self-satisfaction that is undeserved in my opinion. The teenage boys, of course, are not the problem but the millions of white adults who still cling to racism even if it means they vote against their own self interest sre the problem. I sense that many liberals think that the mere act of electing a mixed race President is going to solve something when that is obviously not the case. In fact, it won't solve anything. Electing a nonwhite man for the first time is an historic first, but in and of itself that is all it is. It portends and foreshadows nothing else on it's own.

I pray that Obama is elected, not because I think he's all that great (to me he's just another corporate/centrist Democrat) but because the alternative is so horrendous and fraught with danger for the country. It will be a milestone if we manage to elect Obama, but what it will not be is any kind of watershed election such as 1932 was and more's the pity too. Obama's foolish and very naive rejection of partisanship this year will mean that if he squeaks by or even if he lucks out and the economy gives him a more comfotable margin of victory he will not have a mandate for much beyond somehow, in some unspecified way, bringing us all together so we can work with the Republicans on "bipartisan" solutions to our proglems. The only problem with Obama's fantasy scenario is that the Republicans have no intention of doing anything like that. Their understanding of "bipartisan" is for Democrats to agree to their agenda and that ain't gonna happen and shouldn't.

There is still some time for Obama to actually make this election a route of the Republican Party and a total repudiation and rejection of all they stand for, but the chance of Obama allowing his campaign to do that are slim indeed. Just when we have the opportunity to really rack up a big majority and start passing the sort of mainstream liberal legislation we have all hoped for over the past 30 years, Obama, instead of ushering in those things will be standing in the way demanding "compromise" and concessions in the name of "bipartisanship" that will retard the progress of our party and our people.

His support for the flimflam "bailout" bill demonstratres clearer than anything else how much a real part of the Washington crowd Obama has already become. It's really a shame. If only he were the progressive so many liberals who supported him have believed him to be it would be fine, but they've been fooling themselves into thinking that because of who he is, he'll actually be more liberal than he's been saying he will be. The joke's on them, only it isn't going to be funny considering the desperate times that we'll be in over the next four years. Obama is far more likely to be a Jimmy Carter type of President than an FDR which means he'll adopt lots of responsible positions that he won't be able to pass into law, frustration will grow and the moment they can, the Republicans will use that frustration to return to power and continue their corrupt, malevolent regime.

If I were to assume you had arrived my first question would be: what took you so long to get here?

As admirable as it might seem to have aroused the anger of the intolerant by theoretically taking a stand on principle against bigotry that is not imo the point at which one arrives. If what you had done was take a stand on principle that would be only a sign post on the journey.

Have you ever been in a group and heard a racially insensitive comment or joke and did you smile or laugh or simply remain silent? Or did you speak up and get insulted? That would be a sign post on the journey. What will you do the next time it happens?

Have you ever heard a homophobic comment or joke and did you smile or laugh or simply remain silent? Or did you speak up and get called a lesbo? That would be a sign post on the journey. What will you do the next time it happens?

have you ever heard a misogynistic comment or joke and did you smile or laugh or simply remain silent? or did you speak up and get called a bitch or feminazi or even a cunt? That would be a sign post on the road. what will you do the next time it happens?

You may have often taken a stand on principle or you may have laughed at those jokes. I don't know. All I know is you put a sign on your lawn and you are supporting Obama. That may be a good decision, it may be a wise thing to do, it may be the best thing for this country. But it is not taking a stand on principle against intolerance and prejudice.

You may be on the fore front of the fight against bigotry, homophobia and misogyny in your community. Conversely you could have never spoken up in the face of mysogyny, homophobia, or bigotry and sanctioned it by your silence and still have been called n-lover when you put up your sign.

There's simply not enough information where you are on the journey or if you've even begun. That you were called n-lover for putting up a sign tells me nothing about your personal journey, only about the personal journey of those who called you that name.

Nicholas Kristof piece in the Sunday New York Times deals with this subject matter.

Ah, the suburban or exurban white teenager version of the drive-by -- drive fast and shout stuff that you know has cultural resonance without knowing why.

Yes, you have arrived.

It's also a clear sign that the fearful racists, are retreating, (no more, 'reduce taxes & regulation' to use as an invisiblity cloak).

Racism is just a fear response - because their upbringing lacked any kind of 'real world' education', most of 'real life' is scary to them, they are looking to blame anyone but themselves for it. Some days I wonder how people like this can manage to feed and clean themselves with any regularity - let alone balance a checkbook or raise a child.

If they were indeed teenagers, then I'm relieved they might not be old enough to vote - and might have to find a job in the next 4 years before the next presidential election. I came of age during the Clinton years and am thankful for it - I never spent more than a week unemployed since then.

I'm in Wasilla, Alaska - notably the pot & meth capital of the state, it's also very conspicuously the bible belt of Alaska. My husband and I also spent about a year in Oregon and found it very stepford-like in their lack of diversity overall, creepy in fact, (and we're white).

(I often joke as to why I don't know or socialize with many here in Wasilla that 'our only choices are either meth addicts or Jesus freaks').

I'm still trying to explain to my two boys (ages 7 & 8) every year why I won't let them join the Boy Scouts. In fact, I had to readdress the issue again today - my youngest said not everyone in the Boy Scouts hate other people, (namely gays and atheists). I had to explain to him that joining a group that hates, (i.e. discriminates) tells other people that it's okay. Basically we won't let them join because as their parents (and atheists) we wouldn't be welcome to participate in Boy Scout activities and family always comes first. Also that they have a moral duty to choose inclusion over exclusion, acceptance over hate - every time, without exception.