Historic African Meeting House Vandalized With Racial Slurs, Lewd Images
An African Meeting House in Nantucket, Massachusetts, was vandalized Saturday with racial slurs and a lewd image, according to multiple reports. Police are investigating the incident.
Community members reportedly discovered the phrase "N----- Leave" and a phallic symbol painted on the front door of the African-American historic site Sunday morning.
Authorities believed the crime occurred sometime between 4 p.m. Saturday and 6:45 a.m. Sunday, the Cape Cod Times reported. Police received a call around 7 a.m. and began interviewing neighbors for leads.
Officers also collected evidence while members reportedly attempted to remove the paint. The site’s manager Charity-Grace Mofsen called the act " incredibly hurtful."
"In a sense, it just feels like nowhere’s safe," Mosen told the Boston Globe. "To see this place that is such a tight-knit community and so peaceful — we’re not exempt “We’re still dealing with the same issues that you would find in the South, or the small-town Midwest. It’s everywhere."
The meeting house, founded in 1827, is part of the Museum of African American History. The building served as a community hub for slaves and abolitionists during that time.
It also doubled as a church and an educational institute for African-American children before Nantucket integrated schools in 1846, according to the museum’s website.
"Nantucket has such a rich history, it’s what brought me to the island," Mofsen told Cape Cod Times. "Seeing how whites and blacks and natives were able to figure out how to live and work together so early on. Once again we have people coming together when they see that something is wrong and hateful, we get together and say ‘This is not what we stand for, this is not what our island is about.’ I think it is good to see people come out and show their support."
Meanwhile, the Nantucket Police Department has increased officer presence in the area.
"Crimes such as this are not what Nantucket is about. Nantucket is known for its diverse population and celebrates the diversity of cultures that make up this island community," the department wrote in a statement. "The officers of the Nantucket Police Department will vigorously pursue the perpetrators of this hate crime."
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