A black man stood to face his neighbors, choking up as he recounted how, every day, some person or another crossed the street when they saw him coming. In Ojai, a pretty place he calls home, people routinely ignore him.
A woman’s voice wavered as she shared the text that her son, whose father is Jewish, recently received: “I heard your entire family was flammable.” To make sure the point was clear, she said, there had been a follow-up message. “You get the reference. World War II.”
It was a swastika that had brought these Ojai residents together, one formed in December by Matilija Junior High School students on the soccer field. Media coverage prompted outrage in the town, leading to the community forum held earlier this month by the Ojai Unified School District…..