Racist Incidents Get Media Attention

DAYTON - One of the lead stories on Tri-Cities TV station KEPR's eve- ning news broadcast on November 13 was about two potentially racist incidents that occurred in Dayton reently. The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported on the same stories on its front page that day.

On the night November 6, firefighters from Colum- bia County Fire District 3 responded to a small fire that was set in the lawn near Day- ton Elementary School. The fire had been burned into the grass in the shape of a swas- tika, which was once the symbol of the German Nazi party and is still sometimes used by white-supremacist groups in the U.S.

Earlier, on Halloween night, three teenagers were reported to have dressed up as members of the Ku Klux Klan, a white-supremacist group that was active in the mid-20th century. They reportedly visited several homes in Dayton, including the home of an African- American teacher.

A reporter from KEPR came to Dayton on the 13th and attempted to interview students and community members about the incidents. Her news report in- cluded quotes from a student and a parent.

According to Dian Ver Valen, public information officer for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, the trick-or-treating incident was reported to law enforce- ment a few days after Hal- loween. "Both incidents are still under investigation," she said. At this point, Ver Valen said, the Sheriff's Office is not sure whether or not the two incidents are related.

Dayton School Super- intendent Doug Johnson said Monday he had no new information on either of the incidents. "The trickor treating took place away from school, so we're lim- ited in what we can do," he said. "And we're still wait- ing for information from the Sheriff's office on the fire."

Johnson said he is disappointed that these kinds of incidents attract so much attention. "So many good things happen here," he said, "that we'd like to see more attention to them."