Jack Fake
2018-04-12 02:48:24 UTC
A Virginia judge handed down an unusual sentence last year after
five teenagers defaced a historic black schoolhouse with
swastikas and the words white power and black power.
Instead of spending time in community service, Judge Avelina
Jacob decided, the youths should read a book.
But not just any book. They had to choose from a list of ones
covering some of historys most divisive and tragic periods.
The horrors of the Holocaust awaited them in Night, by Elie
Wiesel. The racism of the Jim Crow South was there in Maya
Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The brutal hysteria
of persecution could be explored in The Crucible by Arthur
Miller.
A year has passed since the youths spray-painted their hateful
messages on the side of the Ashburn Colored School, a one-room,
19th-century classroom that had been used by black children
during segregation in Northern Virginia. The swastikas and words
were long ago covered with paint. The teenagers have read their
books and written their reports.
The charges, destruction of private property and unlawful entry,
were dismissed in January, Alejandra Rueda, a deputy
commonwealth attorney who suggested the reading sentence, said.
I hope that they learned the lesson that I hoped that they
would learn, which was tolerance, Ms. Rueda said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/books/racist-graffiti-
sentenced-read.html
five teenagers defaced a historic black schoolhouse with
swastikas and the words white power and black power.
Instead of spending time in community service, Judge Avelina
Jacob decided, the youths should read a book.
But not just any book. They had to choose from a list of ones
covering some of historys most divisive and tragic periods.
The horrors of the Holocaust awaited them in Night, by Elie
Wiesel. The racism of the Jim Crow South was there in Maya
Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The brutal hysteria
of persecution could be explored in The Crucible by Arthur
Miller.
A year has passed since the youths spray-painted their hateful
messages on the side of the Ashburn Colored School, a one-room,
19th-century classroom that had been used by black children
during segregation in Northern Virginia. The swastikas and words
were long ago covered with paint. The teenagers have read their
books and written their reports.
The charges, destruction of private property and unlawful entry,
were dismissed in January, Alejandra Rueda, a deputy
commonwealth attorney who suggested the reading sentence, said.
I hope that they learned the lesson that I hoped that they
would learn, which was tolerance, Ms. Rueda said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/books/racist-graffiti-
sentenced-read.html