Racial slur spray-painted on woman's fence leaves Camden County neighborhood upset

LAWNSIDE, NJ - A Camden County neighborhood is upset after a woman’s fence was spray-painted with an offensive message. 

"I’ve been living in Lawnside community for 20 years now, definitely never had anything like this happen before," said Dawn Hines.

Hines said she received an unexpected call on Thursday while at work from her neighbor. 

"Said, Dawn I’m just calling to let you know that there is some graffiti on your fence, ‘I’m like graffiti, I was like could you send me a picture of the graffiti, what kind of graffiti are you referring to’," said Hines.

The picture sent showcased a large racial slur and offensive symbols spray-painted all over her fence. 

"I was definitely in disbelief, I could not believe it. At first I thought it was personal, but as time went on I had time to process it, and I realized that it couldn’t have been personal, this is something that I know came at the heels of the election that we just had," said Hines.

The message has since been removed by township public works and a South Jersey pressure washing company, Petersen Pressure Wash has even offered to help completely remove it free of charge. 

Many in the neighborhood believe the Lawnside community was the target since it’s known in the area as a historically black neighborhood. 

"When folks migrated Jim Crow there was only a few places you could settle in South Jersey, most of which was to be able to look for work, one of those places is Lawnside," said Qawi Austin, a neighbor. 

Austin says it remains predominantly black. 

He believes whoever did this was trying to convey a strong message of hate. 

"This is where you wanted to send a message and make sure that you did it on a white fence, in black lettering for a busy artery of Evesham Road for people to be able to see it during rush-hour time," said Austin.

While the message is filled with hate, the neighborhood is going to respond with kindness. 

"We are human, we love, and I mean there is no hate here, so hopefully my message will get across and more people will sympathize, empathize and join the movement," said Hines.

Hines says she plans on getting in contact with that local pressure washing company for help. Meanwhile, police are investigating this as a hate crime.