Racist Graffiti

Thursday, February 17th, 2022

News Peeing without prejudice

Bella Fratkin

Business Manager

Hate speech targeting Black and Jewish people shook the Arcata High School campus on January 5 when a swastika and racial slurs were discovered on the boy’s bathroom wall.

“It’s disappointing, it’s disturbing and it’s sad,” AHS Principal, Jim Monge, said.

“I was surprised that we have people that would say stuff like that. I know there’s crappy people everywhere, but I didn’t expect them to be that evil,” AHS freshman, Wil Hulse, said.

Hulse was one of the first to see the vandalism. He reported it to a counselor who was passing by and the graffiti was painted over later that day.

He was able to take a few photos before they were covered, and he posted them to his Instagram page with the intention to spread awareness about the graffiti.

According to the pictures, the message contained the N-word as well as antisemitic messages and a swastika. .

“We’ve done an investigation. We’ve got cameras outside the bathroom…we’ve put the word out for students to talk to a trusted person, we’re trying different avenues but we’re still investigating, it’s still on our radar,” Monge said.

Messages were sent to parents that notified them about the vandalism. Monge reflected that students should have been included in the communications and that they will be in the future.

Though this has impacted the entire school community, it was especially harmful to certain students within the racially targeted groups.

“It’s really scary. There’s tons of hate all over, but when I know that it’s targeted at me, it’s just scary,” said junior Ruth Amita Godlin-Sullivan, a Jewish student at AHS.

Godlin-Sullivan pointed out that she finds herself hiding her Star of David necklace when she feels unsafe. She spoke to the subtle antisemitism that she’s experienced at school from fellow students.

“There’s always been jokes and things people have said not realizing that I was Jewish. It happened a lot when I was younger. Even knowing I was Jewish, people would make jokes about Hitler and Nazi’s and the Holocaust,” Godlin-Sullivan stated.

She said that it normally isn’t an instance of blatant antisemitism, but instead, the normalization of jokes pertaining to the Holocaust and Hitler.

“Even if I wasn’t Jewish, it’s still crazy how this is still happening. But because I am, there’s another level to it that’s just kinda surreal,” she explained.

Arcata High, like many other schools and public places, is often tagged with all types of graffiti, but what sets this instance apart are the racial and religious overtones, Monge explained.

“It went above and beyond,” he said.

Monge expressed that school should be a community where everyone feels welcome. “I know that the majority of the students at Arcata High, who they are and how they act, are great kids, so I’d hate to have one student try to make a statement or do something that reflects poorly on the larger group,” he said.

He also spoke to the fact that whoever did the graffiti isn’t just affecting how safe Black and Jewish students feel at school but the custodial staff who have to clean it up.

“They’re probably not intending to, but they’re targeting a different group than they thought,” Monge explained.

Jim Hogan, the head custodian for the school, is no stranger to graffiti. He says he has to cover all kinds of graffiti at least a couple times a week. But even for Hogan, this instance was different from all the rest.

“This particular time really saddened me because for us to be in that spot in this day and age really opened my eyes to ask why this is still happening,” said Hogan.

He also commented on the threat to the already tight funds that something like this poses. Hogan finds it frustrating that money allocated to improving the facility has to be used to cover up graffiti multiple times a week.

“It’s like swimming up river,” Hogan stated.

In light of the racist graffiti, students in the Interact club have refused to give up on the school’s message for an inclusive and safe space for all.

They have been working on painting murals in the bathrooms in an effort to prevent graffiti.

However, change will not be possible until people consider simple words like the ones Hogan would offer to the vandals if he had the chance. “Love others as you would love yourself. If you can’t love others, who can you love?”he said.

Bella Fratkin/PEPPERBOX Interact club painted murals in one of the girls bathrooms as part of their efforts to limit graffiti on campus