Residents in New Rochelle are condemning racist stickers
with offensive messages that have been popping up around their neighborhood.
Neighbors
say the stickers with messages such as White Power and White Lives Matter are
being posted on traffic signs, in the parks, on utility poles, and even private
property.
Resident Jackie Mills says stickers she's seen have read,
"'White Power,' 'Diversity is the systematic way of terminating white
people' – just offensive and jarring statements that don't belong in this
neighborhood."
Rochelle Heights in New Rochelle is a close-knit and diverse
community. Residents say the community has had no obvious racial problems until
these stickers started showing up. Other residents who've seen them say the
peace and quiet of their neighborhood is being disturbed and threatened by the
stickers and their messages.
Mills says she first started seeing the stickers in
September, around the same time that social justice signs reading, "Black
Lives Matter," began disappearing.
Her neighbors shared their stories of seeing the stickers
and feeling hurt and violated by what they read.
New Rochelle police say the incidents are under
investigation.
For those who post the volatile stickers, Mills and her
neighbors have a message of their own. "We want it known that, we in
Rochelle Heights are united, we are diverse and we're not afraid," Mills
says.