Students, parents and school officials in Wayland, Massachusetts, condemned hate Wednesday after racist graffiti was found targeting the town's superintendent.
Students posted signs of unity after a message equating Superintendent Omar Easy, who is Black, with a racist slur was written at the Wayland Community Pool, located next to Wayland High School.
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Police and Wayland Public Schools are investigating the graffiti, which was found around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"We do not tolerate any acts of hate in Wayland and we want to reassure our community that we are taking this incident very seriously. The person or people found responsible for this hateful message will be held accountable," acting Wayland Police Chief Ed Burman said in a statement.
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Easy, a former fullback in the NFL, oversees a predominantly white district. He told NBC10 Boston in February that the job's inherent challenges drew him to the position.
"Most of the time, I'm the only Black person in the room, but it doesn't bother me. I know why I'm here: To ensure every child in the district gets a fair shake," Easy said at the time.
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"It would be nice if people could do better and be human. That's not always the experience here," one mother told NBC10 Boston Wednesday night. "My son is 8 years old, and I do not want him to come here because of some of the racist things that have been going on. And a lot of people think that it's OK."
The Wayland Community Pool Board of Directors released a statement Wednesday afternoon:
"The pool is truly a community asset used by people from all over the MetroWest area. To have a community asset defiled with such reprehensible speech is truly disheartening. We as a community are much better than this and we hope that the individual(s) that is/are responsible will consider getting help," it read in part.
Wayland police said they have been in contact with the Anti-Defamation League New England.
Racist graffiti also targeted a school official in Quincy, with the words "we want a white principal" being found inside a bathroom stall at the city's high school. Keith Ford, the first person of color to hold that position, wrote in a letter that hateful behavior will not be tolerated.
In Concord last week, 53-year-old parent John Grace was arrested after allegedly threatening to use a weapon against Superintendent Laurie Hunter.
A recent report from the FBI on hate crimes shows the third-highest numbers reported in a decade, even amid concerns that the data is incomplete.
Anyone with information is asked to call Wayland police at 508-358-4721.
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