Dear Prudie:
I have on-going question that’s coming to a head now that it’s Halloween. Long story short, there is a person in our neighborhood who is a racist drunk. Every couple of weeks, he gets absolutely loaded and stands in the street screaming racist obscenities at his neighbors, most of whom are people- and families-of-color. Usually everyone ignores him, but this past 4th of July was a new escalation. He got so worked up by the (admittedly illegal) neighborhood fireworks that he started trespassing on properties to bang on doors and yell at people who weren’t even launching fireworks, including us. We called the cops but all they did was force him to go back to his own property and scream at people—including children—from there. Besides just this one guy, the neighborhood is stellar, bordering on low-grade-bougie.
Since we’re one of the only ones in our friend group with an actual house and yard, with Halloween coming, we want to host a chunk of friends and their kids for a party and trick-or-treating. At the same time, we’re worried about him getting worked up by another night of neighborhood commotion and coming out to cause a scene. I try to have empathy—he very well could have PTSD which fireworks don’t help—but when the behavior drifts into screaming slurs at children I draw the line. Any advice appreciated!