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Hundreds March In 'Massive Backlash' Against Hate In Lincoln Square

By Patty Wetli | August 27, 2017 8:35pm | Updated on August 27, 2017 8:39pm
 Hundreds rallied against hate speech after white supremacist graffiti was found in the neighborhood.
Lincoln Square Solidarity March 8.27.2017
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LINCOLN SQUARE — A day after neighbors were stunned by white supremacist graffiti scrawled throughout the Greater Rockwell area, hundreds of Lincoln Square residents turned out Sunday evening for a hastily arranged rally against hate speech.

"People will drop any plans they have for a Sunday night to support peace and love," said Samantha Jamisola, who lives on the block where a garage was tagged with the message, "Make Weimar Great Again."

RELATED: HATE GRAFFITI STUNS LINCOLN SQUARE

Jason Rieger helped organize the rally, which started at Waters Elementary — where a "Diversity Is White Genocide" stencil had been sprayed on the sidewalk — and wound up in Jacob Park.

"I estimate we had a minimum of 500 people, and I'm not surprised. I expected a massive backlash against hate speech," Rieger said. "This is not going to define our neighborhood."

The graffiti did not appear to be targeted at a specific individual or group of people, which served to further unite the community.

"I keep thinking about the garage. That's all of our garages. That message was for all of us," said neighbor Solomon Lieberman, whose grandmother survived the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The response, Lieberman said, needs to be unequivocal: "Not on any garage, not in any neighborhood, not anywhere."

For Annie Hudson, who's lived in Lincoln Square for 14 years, the rally prompted her to craft a sign that put a twist on the phrase "not in my back yard."

"I lived in Southern California, where nobody wanted anybody in their back yard," she said. "Everybody's allowed in my back yard. Except hatred."

The strong show of support from Lincoln Square residents comforted Roshna Keen, who also lives on the block where the garage was vandalized.

"I felt at first really very, very sad and afraid. You don't know whether it's limited to graffiti or an indication of things to come," Keen said.

"What helped me — we support each other and have each other's back. We outnumber them," she said.

So what's next?

Rieger urged people to get out and meet their neighbors.

Lincoln Square knows how to fill the streets, he said, and that's the most effective way to combat crime and hate.

Scarcely 24 hours after neighbors alerted him to the "disgusting" graffiti on his garage, Stuart Lange surveyed messages of love chalked all over the area.

"This is our neighborhood," said Lange, pointing to hearts on the sidewalks. "If [the vandals] were trying to convince people that white supremacy is a good idea, they got shot down."