Evict Thy Neighbor

By Jon D. Hull/Chicago

The carefully manicured, geranium-laced lawn of John and Marie Kraft's brick bungalow on Chicago's Northwest Side bespeaks a sense of neighborhood pride. But as the other residents of this quiet street know, the Krafts' vigorous domesticity has an ugly side -- one that is about to cost them the property they have tended so lovingly.

For the past nine years, according to court documents, John and Marie and their adult children have waged a relentless campaign of harassment against their neighbors Isidor and Minerva Ramos. They have hurled racial epithets, attacked the Ramos property and threatened bodily harm. Finally, last month, the beleaguered Ramoses filed a federal civil-rights suit demanding $10 million in damages. Instead, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Williams authorized an unprecedented settlement agreement, to be signed this week, under which the Krafts will vacate their home within 180 days. In a delicious turnabout from the normal course of events -- usually it is the minority family that is forced out by racial harassment -- the harassers will be ousted from the neighborhood. Judge Williams' action sends a signal, says Elizabeth Shuman- Moore of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, that "if you hold bigoted views . . . you may be the one that will have to move out."

The Ramoses' long siege began soon after they arrived in 1985. Kathleen Kraft, now 37, reportedly told them, "We think that you and your family should move out." That was the nicest thing the Ramos family says it ever heard from the Krafts, who are all unemployed except for Marie, 65, who assembles door parts in a factory. Isidor Ramos, 40, a black 19-year veteran of the Chicago police department, says the Krafts called him a "nigger" and his wife, a Puerto Rican, a "spic." Daughter Mindy, 20, has been called a "spic whore"; Ivan, 12, a "little nigger"; and Mychall, 9, a "little spic."

Three years ago, John Kraft Sr., now 70, reportedly told Isidor that if he "were not a Chicago police officer, your home would be burned." George Willard, the Krafts' son-in-law, who also lives in the house, allegedly approached Minerva Ramos two years ago with a tire iron in hand and told her, "I can't wait to grab you somewhere and beat the hell out of you." Last May Kathleen was found guilty of criminal trespass after banging on the Ramoses' garage door, apparently in an effort to set off their burglar alarm. In October, after the Ramoses filed their civil suit, Judge Williams issued a temporary restraining order that required the two families to stay at least 50 ft. away from each other -- with some exceptions, given that the two homes are 3 ft. apart. Then, on Oct. 26, after Willard and John Jr. allegedly banged on the Ramoses' garage door, the judge held them in contempt and hauled them back into court.

After two days of tense negotiations, the Krafts agreed to sell their house or see it put up for auction. If the judge determines within 60 days that the Krafts have not acted in good faith to try to sell the house, they also risk having to pay $1,000 a month in penalties to the Ramoses. Once the Krafts leave, they are barred from coming within 200 ft. of the Ramoses at home or work. The Ramoses have refused to comment publicly until the agreement is signed, but their attorney, Jeremy Margolis, said, "We are delighted that the forced sale will forever remove this cancer from the community."

With a household income of about $27,000 a year, including both Marie's factory wages and John's pension as a janitor, the Krafts contend they are too poor to fight the lawsuit. And they continue to deny the bigotry charge. "I work with a mixture of everything, and we get along fine," says Marie. In fact, since January 1993 the Krafts have filed 12 police complaints against the Ramoses, charging them with various acts of harassment and intimidation, but police dismissed the complaints.

Marie is devastated by the thought of moving from her home of 19 years. "I thought that this would be my house till the day I die," she says. "I wish people would believe us." The problem is, her neighbors are much more convincing. Raul Florez, a 22-year-old roofer from Mexico who lives two houses down from the Krafts, says John Sr. harassed him as soon as he moved in two years ago. Guyana native Sukhram Narine, who lives on the other side of the Ramoses, recalls suffering verbal attacks from the Krafts -- until the Ramoses arrived next door. "After these folks moved in, things quieted down a bit with me," he says. Judge Williams has told the Ramoses and the Krafts to "close this chapter in your lives. Get over it and move on." Yet her solution does have a potential flaw: a few months from now, the Krafts, who vow to stay in their racially mixed area, are going to settle in next to some other family. "Once they get to know us, they'll know where we're coming from," says John Sr., somewhat cryptically.

With reporting by Wendy Cole/Chicago