WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Threats nearly lead to dangerous consequences

Threats nearly lead to dangerous consequences

By Caroline Moses - bio | email

KILLIAN, LA (WAFB) - A white family in Livingston Parish that took in a 13-year-old black girl says threats from both adults and other children in their neighborhood pushed the teenager to attempt a dangerous method to try to fit in.

Authorities are investigating the alleged threats and arrests may be forthcoming. The family says the racist responses from neighbors are sick and scary. They are begging for acceptance and most of all, their safety.

This past May, Allan Hubbard and his family took in a young girl looking for a family. She's become part of theirs, but her new parents say her skin tone has unfairly singled her out. "She's a sweet little girl and all these things that she's saying are just unfair," said Hubbard. Their new daughter is one of the only black people living in their upscale subdivision. It does not sit well with some of their neighbors.

"I was confronted specifically about the New Orleans black and they're not wanted back here," said Hubbard. He says it started with kids making some signs. Then, it progressed to people shouting racial slurs at them. Eventually, it escalated to a neighbor holding a shotgun in his hand as their new daughter walked by. Recently, they found spray paint on the entrance to their neighborhood. It read, "No 'N-word.'" Police have since tried to block out the writing.

"It just seems this day and time, there's some agency that can say, 'Hey, this is silly,' and put a little pressure on these people to just leave us alone," said Hubbard. "Something has to actually happen before we can react to it," said Killian Police Chief Dennis Hill. Chief Hill says his officers have some suspects, but no certain culprits. In the meantime, they've stepped up neighborhood patrols. "You can't blame a 13-year-old child for the way she is, or her race, or anything about her," said Chief Hill.

"She's scared she won't be able to make new friends based on what she's experienced here," said Hubbard. The young girl decided to take drastic measures. She wanted to belong. The only way she thought she could do that was to lighten her skin, so she poured bleach into a bathtub and prepared to get in. Hubbard stopped her, but he says he cannot prevent the scars or stop the burn. "Of all the problems people have, they want to put this much energy into having hate in their heart?"

The girl has now chosen to move in with a different family member. She doesn't want to leave the Hubbards, but she thinks she has to in order to fit in with friends at school. Chief Hill says his department plans to arrest one suspect soon. He's hoping that will show the others that police are serious about putting a stop to this. Call Crime Stoppers at 344-7867 if you have any information that can help police.

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