Bothell man positive even after hateful graffiti

Published 11:07 pm Wednesday, November 7, 2007

BOTHELL — Whoever spray-painted a racist message in big white letters across the brown fence of Charles Ray’s home early Wednesday must not know the 73-year-old great-grandfather.

He said they must not know about the 24 years he spent in the military, including wartime service in Korea and Vietnam. They must not know of his 14 grandchildren, his half dozen great-grandchildren or his career as a music teacher at Edmonds-Woodway High School and elsewhere in Washington. They must not know about the times he’s played jazz trumpet with greats such as Ray Charles and Quincy Jones.

Overnight, someone spray-painted that they wanted Ray to move from his Bothell-area home of 30 years. They used a racial slur.

“Whoever done that, they don’t know me because I’m not that,” Ray, who is black, said Wednesday morning.

Whoever left the graffiti apparently doesn’t know Ray’s neighbors well, either.

On Wednesday, several got out of their cars to speak with him when they spotted him in his front yard.

“I just want you to know as your neighbor I think this is ridiculous,” Dave Blackburn said of the graffiti. It was the first time he’d ever spoken to Ray.

The message sprayed on Ray’s fence isn’t representative of the community, neighbor Jane Proffitt said. “I just feel bad that in this day and age this is happening,” she said.

Since September, police in Snohomish County have investigated five incidents of racial or anti-Semitic graffiti. Three times Mill Creek police have been called about swastikas. Arlington police and the FBI are investigating a racial slur and swastika spray-painted onto a home there. No arrests have been made.

Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies are investigating the graffiti on Ray’s home in the 17200 block of 29th Drive SE as malicious harassment.

“We’re going to do everything we can to solve this,” Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said. “It’s really upsetting to us.”

Deputies collected the beer cans and cigarettes that apparently were left behind by those who painted the fence. They interviewed neighbors to see if anyone saw something or knew who might be responsible, Hover said.

Ray said he’s hopeful police will find those responsible “and get some help for the people.”

He’s not seeking retribution or punishment.

“I’m interested in people learning how to live together and make a life that’s positive for themselves,” he said.

The graffiti is deplorable, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon said.

“It reminds us as a community that we need to be ever vigilant on education and we must never let these types of acts go unaddressed,” he said.

South county religious leaders plan to meet Thursday morning and will discuss appropriate reactions, said the Rev. Kevin Bates, of Mill Creek’s Advent Lutheran Church.

“We will respond. For as often as it rises up, we will rise up,” Bates said.

In 2004, when a cross was burned in front of a black minister’s home in Arlington, the community organized marches and rallies, said Community of Color Coalition spokeswoman Kinuko Noborikawa.

Given the recent incidents, it may be time for a similar movement, she said.

“Something like that shows that the whole community is very much against that type of behavior and supports the victim,” she said. “It sends a strong message that that type of activity is not condoned in this community.”

State Rep. John Lovick, who is leading in an election that could result in him becoming the county’s first black sheriff, said it’s important the community doesn’t overreact. Still, a clear message needs to be sent that hate isn’t going to be tolerated in Snohomish County, he said.

“I tell you what we need to do. We need to come together as a community and wear these haters down,” Lovick said.

Ray said he plans to power wash the graffiti off the fence. He may repaint before his family arrives for Thanksgiving.

“I’ll be getting that off because I didn’t want my grandchildren to see that,” he said.

Herald writer Diana Hefley contributed to this report.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.