November 24, 2020
To: Ann Becker, Trustee and Chair
Lee Wong, Trustee
Mark Welch, Trustee
Larry Burks, Township Administrator
Bruce Jones, Fiscal Officer
West Chester Township, Ohio
Honorable Trustees, Mr. Burks, and Mr. Jones:
We are writing to you about the incident of racism that occurred this week (11/20/20) at the home of Brian and Mia Harlan, 7737 Barret Road in West Chester. In a brash and threatening act, an anonymous hate letter was hand delivered to the Harlan’s home warning them to remove the Biden/Harris and Black Lives Matter signage on their property or face the consequences. The letter states, in part, “…this is West Chester, not Avondale, so keep your murderer types out of here… it was peaceful at one time, and if those (expletive) signs aint’ (sic) gone you are gonna be.”
This is simply not the West Chester we know and love. We know this community as a diverse, progressive and welcoming suburb. As proud residents of West Chester, we also represent the Cincinnati Regional Coalition Against Hate, and EquaSion, a non-partisan civic organization founded upon interfaith dialogue that fosters greater understanding and respect for all people in our region. On their behalf, we have reached out to support the Harlans.
We know that West Chester Police immediately responded and are investigating this hate incident. While the Harlans have expressed their gratitude to the police, they have conveyed their understandable feelings of fear and stress from this terrible incident. No one should be made to feel fear in their homes or unwelcome in their community.
We respectfully ask you, our Trustees, to stand up and speak out. We believe it would be most meaningful for this victimized family – and this community – to be reassured by our public leadership that hate behavior is not only uncharacteristic of West Chester, but altogether unwelcome. Your involvement and exercise of leadership in this matter would send a strong message to those who would promote hate in our community.
We share the belief that one can only remove evil with good and can only remove hate with love. Let us be accountable to and for one another, and let us become more engaged in working together for the dignity and well-being of all of our neighbors. In short, let us come together as a caring community should!
We welcome your response. If there is anything EquaSion can do to assist you, please let us know. Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.
Sincerely,
Jaipal Singh & Aasees Kau
Jan Armstong Cobb & Barry Cobb