Tucker, GA — Candidate for House District 86 Imani Barnes said she was disgusted when she discovered one of her campaign signs graffitied with a racist slur. Barnes is a Tucker resident who ran in 2021 for City Council, losing in a runoff to Cara Schroeder.  

The sign had been tossed in a shrub on May 22 near LaVista Road in Tucker, according to CBS 46. 

“As a Tucker resident, a mother of a Black son, a member of the LGBTQ community, and a Black woman, I am disgusted, hurt, and angry that is still somehow still OK in 2022. But what I am not is surprised,” said Barnes. 

Mayor Frank Auman and Tucker City Council have made headlines over delaying a Non-Discrimination Ordinance and declining to close city hall on Juneteenth. The city council later reversed its decision about Juneteenth, but has not adopted an NDO. 

“Although one bad apple doen’t decsribe the diversity and home town feel of this community, this did happen in a city where they refuse to pass a nondiscrimination ordinance (NDO), when every municipality around them recognizes the need for an NDO,” Barnes said. “I am not surprised that this happened in a city that had to be cajoled into acknowledging the importance of Juneteenth. I am not surprised that this happened where nearly 40% of the population has no one that looks like them on the city council. And I am not surprised that this is still happening in a country when a white teenager can drive hours to kill Black people in a supermarket and still manage to emerge without a scratch. Crimes like this demonstrate why we need NDOs. They also demonstrate why it is important to have elected officials who represent the diversity of our communities and understand the challenges that Black people still face today.”

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