Despite racist graffiti on new North Valley Stream home, family vows to ..

[undergroundrailroad]

Homeowners won't back down from vandalism


Despite racist graffiti on new North Valley Stream home, family vows to stand ground, move in


BY MICHAEL FRAZIER
STAFF WRITER

January 18, 2006

The racist graffiti spray painted on Roy Burke's new North Valley Stream home hasn't deterred him from living there at all. In fact, Burke, who is black, wants to move into the four-bedroom house with his family more than ever.

"This has given me a stronger conviction to move ," said Burke, 43, a mortgage consultant. "Especially because of the fact they did it on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. These people are trying to tell me I'm not good enough for the neighborhood. That's not going to happen. It makes me want to move in even more."

Between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Monday, someone painted black swastikas, "KKK" and the message "Move Out --," a racist expletive, on the garage door of Burke's Frances Drive home, Nassau police said.

This is the second time racist graffiti has gone up in the neighborhood since October 2003. The last time occurred at a black man's house about three blocks from Burke's.

Investigators believe the two are linked, Burke said police told him.

[Catherine Vincent]

1. Be strong, my brother.

I hope they catch the crooks.