Orange County NC Website
<br />November 18, 2016 10:53 AM <br />Anxiety, fear and frustration in Orange County after election <br /> <br />Chapel Hill police responded Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, to anti-Trump graffiti spray <br />painted on the wall of Hunam Chinese Restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. <br />Boulevard and, immediately following the Nov. 8 election, at the Old Chapel Hill <br />Cemetery on UNC’s campus. Contributed photo <br /> <br /> <br />By Tammy Grubb <br />tgrubb@newsobserver.com <br />CHAPEL HILL <br />Mariela Hernandez says she was walking her 9-year-old son to school on Nov. 9 when she saw a group of <br />men in a white pickup slow down on Hillsborough Road near the Cates Farm community. <br />“I see this guy with a big smile, and they’re (yelling), ‘You’re going to get sent back to Mexico,’ ” said <br />Hernandez, who is a legal immigrant seeking her citizenship and a zone navigator helping families in <br />Orange County’s Family Success Alliance cradle-to-career or college program. <br />“My reaction was completely surprised. I didn’t think,” she said. “I’ve been targeted, and racist stuff has <br />been said to me before, but I didn’t think it would happen like that.” <br />The alleged encounter was among hundreds of incidents, protests and student walkouts reported <br />nationwide after Donald Trump won the presidential election. UNC students also staged a walkout and <br />protests, and undocumented students met this week to talk about their fears. <br />Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange County Schools spokesmen said they haven’t had any major issues. <br />Both sent messages to parents letting them know that schools are safe places and to get in touch with <br />any harassment or bullying concerns. <br />Orange County leaders also issued a letter Monday in response to reports of racial, religious and <br />homophobic harassment, urging victims to call 911.