Chillicothe City Council learns about hate speech in recent meeting
CHILLICOTHE — "We're not going back."
Those were the words from Adrienne D'Souza, President of the Ross County NAACP, as she spoke at the recent Chillicothe City Council about some of the hate speech flyers that have been seen around the area.
She said the flyers were circulated by a KKK group and once they were in the community the images quickly made their way to social media. She said many people online commented how upset and frustrated they were with the images.
During a meeting with the police D'Souza and Chief Ron Meyers discussed the group and how it operates. This includes targeting specific parts of cities they visit but not participating in violence or destruction of property. The police also found that the group had recently targeted other communities in Portsmouth, Kentucky and West Virginia.
D'Souza said the KKK has been in Chillicothe before and stated that there is even a local clansman living in the community who has previously left information around the library.
Groups like this are protected under the First Amendment so little can be done besides monitoring them unless the groups cause harm or create vandalism.
"We have come too far in the struggle for civil rights in this country to go back to a time where we are not treated equally and looked upon as second-class citizens," said D'Souza. "I don't care who is in the White House and I don't care who is in Congress — we're not going back."
Despite this hatred, D'Souza said the thing she loves about Chillicothe is that it comes together in times of crisis, which is why she is thankful for all the people who have reached out asking what can be done and offered their support.
Dr. John Gabis said he hopes that something is done about this type of speech as ignoring it is not an option. When he first saw the flyers he didn't know what to do but he didn't want his friends to stand alone and be threatened by this group and while he still doesn't know exactly what needs to be done he knows something needs to happen.
"To say nothing or do nothing is really not an option," said Gabis.
Gabis said the community can not tolerate hate like that and the the community as a whole is better than this. He recommends people learn more and start a conversation with African Americans they know and make sure they are OK.
Chillicothe Mayor Luke Feeney also spoke out during the meeting calling the the behavior "disgusting". While officials believe the flyers were spread by outside individuals it still hurts him to see it in the area.
"We know that behavior and emotions and thought like this exist in the world but you would hope, or I would hope, that Chillicothe would be insulated from it," said Feeney. "It is not and it is incumbent upon us to work harder and do better for the community."
Shelby Reeves is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. You can email her at SReeves@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @Shelby_Reeves_
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Many speak out against hate speech in Chillicothe
