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June 17, 2004

Cop call angers Lexington couple

Yawu Miller

After Marilyn and Meikle Paschal opted to renovate their Lexington home, they decided that much of their antique collection would not survive the transition.

So the couple, both avid collectors, decided a sale would help pare down their stock and bring in cash. Last Saturday, as a steady stream of antique seekers passed through the rooms on the Paschal’s first floor, Meikle more than once was asked from where he obtained the high-end pieces that he has collected over the years.

While some of the visitors in the overwhelmingly white suburb may have been genuinely interested in finding new sources for antiques, at least one had another idea in mind.

As was explained by the police officer who responded to an anonymous call, one of the Paschals’ visitors decided their collection was of questionable origin.

The caller, the officer explained, said “Those people have a lot of high-end stuff. We think you should come and check it out.”

While the couple’s 15-year-old son stood in the kitchen and a dozen would-be antique shoppers looked on, the officer questioned Meikle, inspected the furniture, apologized and then left.

The visit has left the couple with a bitter taste of the tony suburb.

“We think we’re upper middle class,” Meikle said. “We have a combined income well into six figures, two BMWs and a house worth more than $800,000. Yet we’re still discriminated against in some of the most insulting ways.”

In their 16 years in Lexington, the couple have done much to insinuate themselves into the life of the town. Marilyn, an artist and educator, has taught in a local after school program and works in a studio in the town. All three of their children have attended the Lexington schools.

“It’s clear that we have not been accepted in this community,” Meikle said.

Lexington Police Sergeant Farro said the officer responding to the call behaved within department guidelines in investigating the call.

“We were there on a call,” he said. “It’s a mere inquiry. There’s no wrongdoing there.”

Marilyn says she doesn’t fault the officer who responded.

“I don’t think it’s a problem with the police,” she said. “It’s a problem with one of the people who came to see our antiques. I’m really concerned about living in Lexington and how people in Lexington see you when you’re of African descent.”

Marilyn says she’s put up with more subtle slights over the years, merchants who assume she’s not a resident of the town, teachers who assume her children are enrolled in Metco and not residents of the town.

None of that prepared her for the sight of a police cruiser in her front yard.

“One of the things that really bothered me is that my 15-year-old son was in the kitchen when the police came. It was embarrassing.”

Meikle, who grew up in the Lenox Street housing development, said he now understands that he may never be fully a part of the community where he has spend most of the last two decades.

“It’s very apparent that we’ve not been able to become part of this community,” he said.

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