Whether it’s defacing murals, or monuments to victims of police violence, it appears that people (read: white people) nationwide have taken up racist graffiti as a hobby. A neighborhood in Denver had the shittiest Tuesday ever, when they awoke to find that various cars had been vandalized overnight with swastikas and racial slurs.
According to CBS4, at least 15 cars had swastikas spray painted on them and phrases like “Made in Mexico” on them. The residents in the neighborhood could be seen scrubbing their cars throughout the day. “It’s disgusting. I’m angry and frustrated,” said Ryan Turch, a nearby resident. “I’ve been living in this neighborhood for six or seven years and I haven’t seen anything like this.”
“It definitely makes you aware that racism is in our community, close by. It’s just wild,” Annika Mueller also told the news outlet. “It’s a hate crime, so it’s disconcerting.”
The most confusing part of all this is that it took place in Denver. Fucking Denver. Yes, I know they have a Black mayor, but it’s still Denver. When I think of the top 5 whitest places of all time, you can be damn sure Denver is going to be on that list. So, I’m just curious if whoever did this was just trying to piss off their fellow whites? (I’m gonna assume the perpetrator was white because, I mean, come on now.)
I’m struggling to make heads or tails of why this happened. Usually when we see racist graffiti, the target, while undeniably fucked up, makes sense. This, as one of the residents told CBS4, is just very random. The Denver Police Department has said that an investigation into the incident is still in the early stages, and no suspects have been identified or arrested.
Across the country, incidents of racist graffiti have started to become more commonplace. Last month, a statue of George Floyd that was unveiled in Brooklyn for Juneteenth was defaced with blue paint and had the name of a white nationalist group spray painted on the base. A similar incident happened earlier this week to a mural in Louisville that was dedicated to Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and David McAtee—all three of whom were victims of police violence.
I guess the takeaway here is that these folks are actually okay with property damage as long as it’s racist. Good to know.