A symbol of hatred
I know, according to the Broadway musical Avenue Q, we’re all a little bit racist, but this isn’t about that. This is about in your face hatred and how a spray painted symbol brought me to bomb a tree.
a symbol of hate
We moved into this neighbourhood last November. In the late Spring I noticed a swastika spray painted on a tree. It made me angry.
I realize that the culprits were probably just trying to be cool in front of their friends and might not even know what it means or might not even care but that’s not an excuse.
I walked by once a week, on my day off, for the following three weeks, each time, hoping it would be gone. Hoping a city worker would come and remove it.
At one point someone tried to spray paint a peace sign over top but it still came through loud and hateful.
The third week I filed a request with the city to have it removed. Nothing happened.
I spoke to a police officer about it and was asked whether it was in a graffiti designated area?!
It was time to take matters into my own hands.
Yarn bombing
You didn’t really think I was talking about explosives did you? I took out my yarn and started crocheting. A few days later I was finished and it was time to do the deed.
I wanted to do it under the cover of night but Tim figured why wait, so we went out around 7:30 pm. As we started bombing, a police car stopped at the corner. We worked quickly and hid as the officers drove by on the street next to the tree.
We were not taking ourselves too seriously but we still treated it like a covert operation and wanted to avoid having to explain our actions to the popo.
As we walked away, the police vehicle drove up the bicycle path behind us. “Be cool!” Tim said as we broke out laughing while we slowly walked away from the car. It turns out they were after some other (real) criminals who may have fit our general description but they weren’t looking for two punks with a ball of yarn and a crochet needle.
In the end the cover up is still hanging and we feel like our covert action against racism was well worth the effort.
beautified
I know this might just be a band aid for the situation and not a solution but, for now, at least people walking by can feel happy instead of indifferent or angry.
How do you deal with hate graffiti?
UPDATE: About three days after I finished writing this post, I walked by the tree and saw city workers mowing the lawn and trimming bushes. They had removed the cover as part of cleaning up the area. I was infuriated. I sent the city another email about the swastika and this time got a response promising an investigation.
As of July 15th, 2013
UPDATE #2: On July 15th I went by the tree and was glad to see that someone had covered the swastika by attempting to spray paint another peace sign. On the bike path next to it, in big black letters, the words “End Hate” have been spray painted.
Shame they removed the cover you made, it looked quite nice, I cannot say the same about the swastika unfortunately.
Seeing hate, racist or in same way offensive graffiti makes me angry but I’ve never done anything of this sort to get rid of them, brave of you!
Thanks Franca, I wouldn’t say brave, just angry that nothing was being done 😉
Thanks Michelle, I’ll update when/if they finally remove it.
Good on you for your guerrilla crochet intervention! I would have wanted to do the same thing if faced with such a repugnant sight. The cover you made is beautiful. Such a pity it was removed but the horrendous swastika remains.
Hi Steph, thank you for your comment. Check the 2nd update, it’s finally gone!
Great, thoughtful post. While out with some people a few weeks ago, I was struck by the different political viewpoints within the group and how this resulted in a really interesting and challenging conversation. Granted no one in this group would paint a swastika ANYWHERE, but when I mentioned the diversity to the friend who had organized the lunch, she said that that had been the very thing that had stopped her from bringing everyone together sooner. I`ve thought about that comment a lot because I worry that Cdns’ political correctness has cost us dearly in terms of our ability to debate, exchange and challenge ideas, as well as to recognize the fact that while we may often hold different views on some things (like Conrad Black) we agree strongly on others (no swastikas) that are probably far more significant in defining our Canadian-ness. I’d love to hear what others think about this! Thanks for the opportunity to express something I’ve been thinking about lately.
It’s always nice when people agree on the important things like basic human kindness and respect.
Can’t think of a better resolution 🙂
Thanks Maria 🙂