Content warning: This article contains references to and images of racial slurs.
A Black man woke up last week to what San Francisco police are now calling a hate crime: A black doll with racist, caricatured features, a noose around its neck, and racist written slurs had been left on Terry Williams’ porch when he stepped outside on Friday morning.
On the doll and in the package were written dozens of slurs calling Williams, a dog-walker and one of Alamo Square’s mainstays, the n-word, a monkey, and Sambo — and telling him to “go pick cotton” or, more threateningly, warning him that there is a “target on your back.”
Some of the slurs were cryptic. “I had to Google these words,” Williams said, referring to a list of archaic or obscure anti-Black language like “rastus” and “macaca.” Williams said he conferred with his 82-year-old father about some of the terms, and said that his parents, longtime residents of the neighborhood, are worried. “In 2024, I didn’t think they’d target me and my family.”
Williams called the police and the FBI, and has since obtained surveillance camera footage from neighbors of the suspect who left the package on his doorstep. The suspect reportedly walked with a slight limp, and wore a hooded coat, wide-cuffed pants, and dark shoes with a small heel.
San Francisco police spokesperson Officer Eve Laokwansathitaya said that no arrests have been made, but that the case is being “actively investigated as a hate crime.”
Williams was also concerned about the police handling of the case, saying that the officers who arrived at his home on Friday morning touched the bag containing the doll without gloves. He wondered whether that would mar forensic analysis of the package.
District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston said he was “horrified” by the incident, and that he has known Williams for years.
“I am in touch with Terry, Chief [Bill] Scott, and our police captain, and will be tracking this closely,” Preston said. “We are very concerned for the safety of Terry and his family in light of this threat delivered to his home. This incident is horrific, and should never be tolerated in San Francisco.”
A neighbor named Katrina similarly called the incident “horrifying.”
“His family have been homeowners for decades, and they are active and beloved members of the community who have always treated their neighbors with the utmost kindness and respect,” she said. “This is a blatant threat. Over the years, Terry has been subject to various accounts of racism, including being called racial slurs and baseless accusations. However, this has been the most vagrant and vile.”
Williams was born and raised around Alamo Square Park, his family owns a home there, and his neighbors call him the “Mayor of Alamo Square.” On any given day, he is spotted walking around the park with his and his neighbors’ dogs, which he escorts as part of his dog-walking business, Terry and Roxy’s Dog Walking.
But, while the neighborhood is home for Williams, it hasn’t always been kind to him.
Williams told Mission Local that he has been called racial slurs just walking around with his dogs in the neighborhood or at the park. Once, Williams said, a white woman called the police on him, falsely accusing him and his dog of assaulting her. But Williams said the woman faced no consequences for the false report, a misdemeanor, and he instead had to obtain a restraining order against her.
In 2020, city leaders passed the Caution Against Racial and Exploitative Non-Emergencies, or CAREN, Act which allows targets of unfounded 911 calls on people of color living their lives to sue the caller.
“I know it’s just from this park,” Williams said of last week’s incident. “I’m telling people ‘the neighborhood is so racist,’ and [they say] ‘We’re sick of you saying it’s racist over here!’ — How are you gonna tell a Black person that it’s not racist?”
The blocks surrounding Alamo Square Park are more than 55 percent white, and about 10 percent Black, according to census data.
Despite the issues and his parents’ worries, however, Williams said he is here to stay.
“I was born and raised here. I’m not going nowhere,” he said.
Neighbors today began a fundraiser to support Williams. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, more than $4,000 had been raised.
I am not sure what is going on in this city, but this is not OK and cannot be tolerated.
Odd that this would be a first time, one off incident. Way more likely mental illness is the reason behind this than genuine hatred.
I walk around the park most mornings and often see Terry walking his dogs and we always say good morning to one another. He is so friendly to everyone and wonderful with the dogs. I’m am heartbroken this has happened. I am also just seeing reports of a terrible house fire right now on Grove and Fillmore and am so scared that it might be his home.