Chillicothe Task Force Focuses On Hate

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio —After racially-charged graffiti popped up in Chillicothe city parks, residents hoped the city would move swiftly to increase patrols and raise awareness of potential hate crime. 

The spray-painting in Strawser Park included racial slurs and a depiction of a lynching and a Confederate flag. The words “Whites Only” were scrawled beside a bathroom door.

Months later, a task force was launched, aimed at hate crimes in the Ross County city.  Now, residents are wondering what the next move is to diffuse the situation.

“It brings tears and emotion to me now to think (that) people can be so narrow-minded. We all have red blood and a heart that beats the same,“ said Jan Harper, an area resident.

Graffiti in any neighborhood is an eyesore, but when racist graffiti appeared in Strawser Park in February, it made one woman think back on something that happened to her in 1959.

“The man asked me, ‘Can I help you?‘ I said, ‘I want to be a checkout girl.‘ He said, ‘We make it a policy not to hire colored,‘“ Sharon Maughmer said.

NBC 4 attempted to contact Chillicothe Mayor Joe Sulzer about the task force, but was told he couldn’t fit in a few minutes to explain the task force.

As a result, it’s still unclear how the public will be made aware of what is being put in place to deal with the issue.
The hope is the task force can serve as an eye and legal arm of the community while residents are getting involved by starting blockwatch programs.

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