It was the worst kind of nightmare for the mother of a bi-racial high school student. In June, the people of Brattleboro, Vermont learned that a racist youth group called NHRA (“N—– Hating Redneck Association”) was active in the local high school. Larry Pratt Jr., a 17-year-old NHRA member, was arrested after waving a weapon at a multi-racial group of students near the high school grounds. Pratt and several other NHRA members were suspended from school and placed in a restorative justice program, but the alarm bells were ringing for parent and musician Barbara Holliday.
“It was the most visible in a long line of incidents, and the potential of violence was evident. Flyers from David Duke’s organization started appearing in surrounding neighborhoods. Nooses had been graffitied on road signs. The young people [in the NHRA] had nearly 30 members on their Facebook account and some had tattoos on their knuckles, formalizing their relationship to this racist group.”