by Barbara Sherf

Emotions ran high at a diversity forum in Springfield Township Monday night, as 150 area residents turned out following reports that racist literature from a group known as The Loyal White Knights was distributed in Springfield Township and Abington.

There was anger, tears and heartfelt concern expressed during the public comment portion of what was a two-hour, standing-room-only forum put together by Springfield Township Commissioner Eddie T. Graham, Esq., the first African American Commissioner elected to that office in 2016.

Graham was pleased with the turnout and urged audience members to become part of a smaller committee he is forming that will meet monthly to address racial issues and report back in future quarterly forums. As of this writing, the next NAACP General Meeting will be (tentatively) held on March 18 at the Springfield Township Library at 7:30 p.m.

“People have a tendency to want to sweep this under the carpet because it opens a raw wound,” Graham said. “Not letting that wound see the light of day only makes a community sicker.”

The first speaker up was Jennie Lawston, a black woman who has lived in the predominantly white neighborhood of Elkins Park since 1972. She said she was thankful that Abington Police picked up most of the packets dropped overnight on New Year’s Eve in her Elkins Park neighborhood.

“We haven’t had anything like this in our community,” she said. “When I opened the packet, I was shocked and saddened. The police had come out earlier and picked up most of the materials, but unfortunately the black couple who recently moved onto the block discovered the packets and felt targeted.”

A Google search revealed through media reports that a dozen communities in Montgomery County received the recruitment information since October of 2017, and three additional Montgomery County Communities show up on the Philadelphia Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League hate map.

Montgomery County Commissioner Chair Valerie Arkoosh noted that it is hard to keep track of these incidents because there is no central reporting system.

“There are 50 different police departments in Montgomery County, and there is no real mechanism in place to determine how far and wide these incidents have been.”

Springfield Township School Board President Karen Taratuski, a 16-year resident of the township, immediately notified Springfield Police and took to social media and reported the incident to the Anti-Defamation League. Taratuski has posted information on the What’s Happening Springfield Facebook page about the drop that also occurred in the 200 block of Church Road near Route 309.

“I really think these people got off of 309 and dropped here because it is a straight shot with no cul-de-sacs, and these cowards did it overnight,” Taratuski said, as her wife and daughter were readying for a Girl Scout meeting on Saturday afternoon. “A lot of people at work and online expressed outrage.”

Residents are urged to contact the police along with their local chapter of the NAACP , the Anti-Defamation League Philadelphia Chapter and the Southern Poverty Law Center should they receive similar packets of racist and anti-Semitic information.

Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Nancy Baron-Baer said the pamphleting is nationwide and has increased significantly in 2018.

“I don’t want people thinking there are KKK meetings where these packets are being compiled,” she said. “It seems more like one or two individuals who can get in their car, drive from several hours away, make a drop on their own, cause a stir and get publicity with minimal effort.”

Springfield Commissioner Jonathan Cobb, who lives a block from the most recent literature drop, had these final words: “As tumultuous and challenging as these times are, hate has no home here, and although it is scary, there is a lot of good coming out of this as people are shining their lights on it … so I am hopeful.”

The next Springfield Township Board of Commissioners Business Meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 14, with a workshop meeting on March 12 at 1510 Paper Mill Rd. in Wyndmoor at 7:30 p.m.

The Southern Poverty Law Center asks that these crimes be reported to their hate map: splcenter.org/hatemap. As of this writing, none of the incidents cited in this article appear on the map. The Philadelphia Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League is tracking the literature and other hate crimes and can be reached at philadelphia.adl.org

Guest correspondent Barbara Sherf can be reached at Barb@CommunicationsPro.com