Thumbs up: Santa Rosa neighbors stand up to racism

Here’s a big thumbs up for residents of Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park neighborhood. After a week dominated by extremist violence and the potential for more confrontations, they quietly delivered a strong message by rallying around a family whose home was tagged with racist graffiti.

More than 50 people turned out Sunday to help erase a hateful, three-word message from the garage door at the home of Di and Bentley Chong Wan. “If it happens somewhere else it’s hard to do anything about it. But I can do this, and it feels really good,” Helen Tucker, who lives nearby, told Staff Writer Meg McConahey.

The neighbors weren’t the only ones who reached out. Bentley Wan said he was able to identify the vandal as a 28-year-old man who was visiting at a neighbor’s home. Wan met with the man and said he apologized for painting the epithet on the garage door.

Santa Rosa police are investigating, so there may be further consequences for the perpetrator. Meanwhile, there is an example of nonviolence and solidarity for the rest of us to follow.