Some of these signs are pretty funny…
This is not…there’s been ample media coverage of the recent vandalism and burning of presidential candidate Barack Obama’s political lawn signs in Northampton. Some are calling it a hate crime with racial overtones. Of course, others might feel it’s a free speech issue, albeit undertaken illegally at the expense of someone’s private property. Basically, if someone acquired their own Obama or McCain sign and torched it on their own property that would be considered free speech I suppose. You see with American flag burning I can burn my own American flag as a political statement, but I cannot burn yours without your consent.
I find these burning incidences disturbing because I have experienced similar aggressions myself. When I ran in 2005 for the Ward 4 city council seat in Northampton my lawn signs were subjected to repeated vandalism. At one point a LaFleur hater came onto my "Noho" property awakening me and my family at two o’clock in the morning with loud crashes and bangs. Porch furniture and a free standing sign were overturned and a lawn sign had its wooden stake snapped in half. I dialed 911 and ran outside wielding a baseball bat wearing only my boxer shorts and a tank top, giving chase while yelling invectives as he or she took off running. The suspect who was white and wearing sneakers fled west on South Street ducking down Winthrop Street. Realizing I was barefoot and scantily clad I retreated back to my home where my family members were wondering what the heck was going on. Two police officers appeared and they searched around the neighborhood from their cruisers using their nifty search lights, but found nothing. I thought cynically, "So this is liberal, progressive, tolerant Northampton." And I’m a left leaning guy, though admittedly somewhat fiscally reserved. Maybe this was not about ideology, maybe it was personal. I don’t know.
Interestingly, my pro Community Preservation Act signs were left intact. At the time I wondered if the media would cover the hate crime, as I presumed the police officers had to record an incident report and I had called 911 after all, so the call was logged. Nope. The vandalism continued throughout the campaign, and my spouse asked me, "Is running for office really worth it Daryl, if you’re going to bother our neighbors with your views?" My reply, "Honey, what would suspending my campaign because of intolerant persons signify to the community? If this is how our neighbors are going to act, screw’em."
I don’t know who was behind it, but this was the beginning of what proved to be a recurring incident. I lost about a dozen campaign signs across the city during that election cycle, but replaced each one and didn’t bother to call the police after the first act of malice. Perhaps I should have. Perhaps had there been some media coverage the vandalism would have stopped-or perhaps it could have gotten worse. Although these acts would not have been labeled racist or homophobic seeing as I am a middle-aged straight white male, my signs were either torn apart or their wooden stakes were snapped in half, or both. Some were removed entirely to who knows where, though I don’t recollect any sign burnings.
Moreover, currently Smith College is addressing anonymous hate postings on the Daily Jolt website. Again, I experienced similar vitriol on Masslive’s anonymous Northampton forum during my campaign. People would challenge my motives, question my character and make other innuendo, all from behind anonymous monikers. Eventually I just stopped posting there as I viewed it as a waste of time. Obviously some folks in the community disagreed with my screed and were bent on trying to intimidate me, but not to my face. I continued with my campaign and was soundly trounced at the polls by my opponent Councilor David Narkewicz.
I do not know the identity of my adversaries, that is, those who chose the low road. Backed by a skeleton crew of supporters I cannot help but wonder why my fledgling campaign for local office would have scared someone into committing such acts of cowardice and violence, but it did, and that is the reality my friends of Northampton politics at its worst. Stick your neck out and you may get your head chopped off. I hope that Barack Obama has the fortitude to follow my example and continue with his campaign. What would my neighbors think if he didn’t?
