Photo: Getty Images
A Houston couple's morning walk was recently interrupted by a racist flyer advertising the "sale of negroes" in a historically Black neighborhood.
Last week, Lante and Nakiba Phillips were making their usual trip through Houston's Sunnyside park when they saw a racist advertisement pinned to a tree, per KPRC.
"I looked over at this tree, and I saw [the word] negroes," Lante said.
The flyer spotted by the couple was titled "Great Sale of Negroes," specifically advertising one buck and two wenches for sale.
"I was floored, actually. I did see that it was dated 1855. Someone definitely did their history," Nakiba said.
After the couple notified a park employee, the flyer was taken down. However, community leaders and residents still have concerns.
"We want them to know that those days are over, and this is not no plantation. This is our home. This our community," said Travis McGee, a civic leader with Sunnyside Garden/Bayou.
Another community leader recalled efforts from earlier this year to try to get cameras installed at the park to prevent incidents like this from happening.
“Back in April this year, we had a contractor come out and inspected the whole park area to put up surveillance cameras and give city councilmembers the price and stuff,” said Tracy Stephens, the president of the Sunnyside Civic Club.
District D Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz called the flyer "appalling," but said installing surveillance cameras in Houston's 382 parks is "just not in the budget."
"It's just not in the budget, because it's not just installing cameras, you have to maintain them, and then they have to be monitored," Evans-Shabazz said.
The councilmember said she's asking the Houston Police Department to increase patrols in the area and meeting with other leaders to see what can be done.
HPD said their Criminal Intelligence Division is investigating the incident to find out who put up the flyer and whether a hate crime was committed.
See the flyer here.
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