{"id":180037,"date":"2021-03-08T15:56:54","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T22:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eugeneweekly.com\/?p=181558"},"modified":"2021-03-08T15:56:54","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T22:56:54","slug":"shining-a-light-on-stealth-racism-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/08\/shining-a-light-on-stealth-racism-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Shining A Light On Stealth Racism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pettiness of racist graffiti can be gnawing. Its results can be nerve racking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mica Contreras, Justice and Equity Program organizer for Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC), has, along with others, seen what they believe is an increase in graffiti vandalism directed at people of color and organizations that exist to assist them.<\/span><\/p>\n

This has included a recent case of a spray-painted noose with the n-word accompanying it on a car in the Santa Clara area.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHate crimes can escalate in a community when they are not met with strong resistance,\u201d <\/span>Contreras tells <\/span>Eugene Weekly<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Graffiti vandalism hit CALC in the last week of February when it struck a youth mural, \u201cThe People\u2019s Resistance,\u201d in front of the CALC building.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The vandalism on the mural took the form of scrawling thick black Xs across the faces of Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and a portrait of an Asian woman. Additionally, one piece in the mural\u2019s upper left corner has been covered with paper and is now weathered into the mural, making it difficult to peel off.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Eugene Police Department was called on Feb. 23, but the staff at CALC say that EPD officers didn\u2019t show up until Feb. 26, and the investigation seems to be getting nowhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

CALC had seen enough, so it called a media event on March 4 in front of the mural to shine attention on this stealth immorality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contreras read from a statement declaring, in part, \u201cthat these attacks were intended to intimidate all BIPOC and organizations committed to working for justice, especially those in the Black community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I don\u2019t think we should give these incidents more attention than they deserve, I think it\u2019s important to recognize that we live in a historically racist \u2018whites only\u2019 state that supports many extremist hate groups, including white nationalists who are actively recruiting our youth,\u201d Contreras says to <\/span>EW<\/span><\/i>. \u201cWhen multiple incidents occur in rapid succession in the same area, it is important to rally the community and raise awareness on these issues.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Community leaders from an array of nonprofits gathered to join CALC and speak against the racist vandalism in Eugene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among them were three young people affiliated with City Wide Union de Activistas, a youth organization inside CALC that created the mural, dedicated in 2016. The three \u2014 Samantha Alcantar, Abril Meja-Garcia and Carlos Garcia \u2014 spoke of the pain and violation associated with the defacing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alcantar noted \u201cit sickens me\u201d that she and her friends had to be in front of CALC on this day for this purpose, and that the vandalism was an attempt \u201cto belittle efforts of the BIPOC community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe do belong here,\u201d Meja-Garcia answered. \u201cThis is our city, too.\u201d She also reminded the gathering that the making of the mural \u201cwas a form of self-care for some students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia concurred, noting that working on the mural project \u201chelped me find my voice and express my culture.\u201d The vandalism, he added, \u201cmakes me feel frustrated and hurt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

All three said they will be part of the effort, along with a professional muralist, to erase the vandal\u2019s marks and restore \u201cThe People\u2019s Resistance\u201d mural.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the case of the defacement of the CALC mural, it is important to amplify the voices of the student muralists who spent countless hours putting their heart and soul into the project,\u201d Contreras notes to <\/span>EW<\/span><\/i>. \u201cWe should rally around them and come together as a community to reject intimidation and hate.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More information about the mission, the programs and volunteer opportunities at CALC, as well as how to donate, can be found at CALCLane.org.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The pettiness of racist graffiti can be gnawing. Its results can be nerve racking. Mica Contreras, Justice and Equity Program organizer for Community Alliance of \u2026 Continue reading\u00a0\u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,101,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-ew-extra","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180037\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}