A mural at the Washington University campus in St. Louis that depicts prominent Black people throughout history was vandalized with racist symbols according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Looks like people don’t appreciate art when they see it. I mean in 2021 someone was vandalizing a George Floyd mural or statue every week.
The Chancellor of the university, Andrew Martin, sent a letter to students and faculty about the vandalism that occurred on their campus.
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
“This is horrifying and distressing. We’re shocked and saddened by this hateful act on our campus.”
According to the letter, students reported the vandalism to university officials Saturday night.
A video circulated by students and shared with the Post-Dispatch showed several faces on the mural painted white and stamped with the logo of a white supremacist hate group that formed in the wake of the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Not shocking considering this happens all over the country all the time. But, it is still disheartening.
But, before Washington University officials worked to get the vandalism covered, students already covered them according to the letter.
The mural was painted by local artists in St. Louis before the fall semester in 2020. It is titled “The Story That Never Ends” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Some of the figures that are depicted in the mural include local St. Louis activists such as Annie Malone, who sold hair-care products and founded St. Louis Colored Orphans Home, and Robert L. Williams, a professor who formerly taught at Washington University who coined the term “ebonics” per the report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Pretty cool.
The mural also included prominent Black figures who died in the last year such as U.S. Rep. John Lewis and Chadwick Boseman.
Thankfully artists plan to repair it per the story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.