NAACP demands action on graffiti

Slurs were painted in NCSU tunnel

RALEIGH -- The head of the state's NAACP chapter Friday called for a "strong response and punishment" for the N.C. State University students who painted racist and threatening graffiti aimed at President-elect Barack Obama.

The lack of such a response "creates a hostile environment and exacerbates the possibility of continuing activity," NAACP leader William J. Barber II wrote to NCSU Chancellor James L. Oblinger.

NCSU officials did not have an immediate comment on the letter.

Campus police said Thursday that four students who admitted painting the graffiti in NCSU's Free Expression Tunnel will not be charged with a hate crime. Under the state's hate crimes law, they would have had to commit another type of crime, for which the language in the graffiti would have been an aggravating factor.

In the letter, Barber referred to the episode as "alleged hate crimes."

"What we currently know through the media and other reports is quite disturbing," Barber wrote. "Last year the NAACP worked hard to make hate crime activity a felony in North Carolina. We do not take these matters lightly. While we cannot chase every incident, the report of what has happened on your campus is particularly alarming due to the sinister and specific nature of the words and pictures."

The graffiti said "Shoot Obama" and "Kill that n." The U.S. Secret Service determined that there was no actual threat to Obama.

Barber asked Oblinger to meet with NAACP leaders Wednesday. The organization, he said, wants to review the evidence and examine legal and school policies regarding punishment in such incidents.

He also said the NAACP wanted to explore activities to change an "atmosphere of negativity."

More than 500 people attended a rally at NCSU on Thursday to show opposition to the graffiti.