In Manassas, Banner Calls For Halt to 'Racism'

Message Takes Aim at Pr. William Crackdown

A large sign denouncing Prince William County's "racism" is causing a stir in Manassas.

The sign, 12 feet high by 40 feet long, was hung at 9500 Liberty Street, faces the Manassas Virginia Railway Express station and calls on Prince William to "stop your racism to Hispanics." The red and black spray-painted lettering reads, "When our brothers & sons are fighting and dying in Iraq, here you are separating our families. . . . We are the working force of America. We diserve the respect of all civilized people of America."

The sign provoked a range of reactions. Manassas resident George Henderson stopped to take a picture of the banner on his way home from work Tuesday. "I agree with what they're saying," he said. "They're making a good point. Discrimination still shouldn't be happening."

But Monica Casper, also of Manassas, said she was "aghast" when she saw the sign. She read through the message in capital letters, dismissing each of its claims. "I clean my own house," she said. "My husband cleans his own shoes."

A man on a loud motorcycle rumbled past and conveyed his displeasure at the sign with an obscene gesture.

"I just don't get it," Casper continued. "I'm not a racist. My grandparents were immigrants. But they came here through legal channels: Ellis Island."

The sign was erected Saturday at noon on the last wall of a recently demolished house at Liberty and Prince William streets, within the historic district of Old Town Manassas. The property owner, Gaudencio Fernandez, said members of the Hispanic community had asked if he would leave one wall standing so they could hang the sign. He declined to say who made the request but said it was not Mexicans Without Borders, a local immigrant support group.

"Everybody knows the Prince William government is trying to pass certain laws against the immigrants, which affects everybody, whether you are legal or illegal," Fernandez said.

Fernandez, originally from Mexico, said he has lived in the United States for nearly 30 years. He has lived in the Manassas area for the past six years and owns a home remodeling company.

Despite some objections, the sign isn't going anywhere.

"I think it is a matter of free political expression on private property, and that is exempted from the zoning code," Manassas City Manager Lawrence D. Hughes said.

The city's attorney is looking into the issue, he said.

A framed rebuttal was left in Fernandez's yard Tuesday morning, placed near an empty beer bottle. The 10-inch-by-18-inch white paper read, "There are two many of you over here and half dont belong here. This is [the] USA. "

Staff writer Nick Miroff contributed to this report.