Dr. King’s Statue Vandalism Does not Change his Legacy
How madness pushes a human being to take their aggression in their life on a mere statue not knowing their actions solves nothing, and their pain lingers within
Long Beach officials chose to do the right thing by launching into action to remove the graffiti displayed on Dr. Martin Luther King’s Jr. statue by some disgruntled human being. In the above photo, you can see the statue being power-washed to remove hate symbols, swastika, and SS Bolts, done on July 2, 2021. Long Beach officials’ action spoke volumes regarding their intolerance to racist acts of cruelty.
A strove of Long Beach officials join with the ranks of the community to make their voices known that racism will no longer reside in their community and the people didn’t like what they saw. Also, they are considering the installation of area surveillance cameras to catch the coward perpetrators. People with legit causes or issues don’t sneak around in the dark defacing statues, only the ones who have a racist agenda.
No sooner than the police responded, the Long Beach officials proceeded in doing the right and honorable thing by removing the black swastika spray-painted onto the statue of Dr. King’s in Long Beach's eponymous park.
Together with the police department, the community leaders, and officials openly condemning such a heinous crime and launched a criminal investigation is a wonderful and major step in a positive direction. Let the brave soul who was brave enough to do this be brave enough to face up to their action if it was not a racist act.
Dr. King Jr, one of our iconic civil rights leaders who fought for equality and civil rights for all, stood for justice against injustice, was righteous for wrong, fought to reconcile people’s differences, and embraced similarities, statue reminds all of his contributions to humanity. The park where his statue stands is representative of and revered as a sacred ground within the city.
Over the last four years with the prior presidential administration, hate crimes had begun to rise at an alarming rate and now more openly than ever. California law enforcement along reported hate crimes rose 31% in the last year. More specifically hate crimes against Black increased 88%, anti-Latino crimes rose 38%, and anti-Asians up by 107%.
The Long Beach community made it known to all these racist perpetrators, via a “Stand for Peace Rally” organized by the local AOC7 Neighborhood Group that was attended by a multiracial group of community members along with the police chief, police commander, and other activists all under the banner of a sign that stated, “No Room for Hate in Long Beach”, voices reverberated around Long Beach City and surrounding cities.
In conclusion, even out of evil comes good, and out of ugly comes beauty. While this defacing of Dr. King’s statue was ugly but the community joining forces to acknowledge their intolerance of such racist acts conveyed unity and showed the beauty of humanity. When everyone follows this blueprint of Long Beach, these racist acts will no longer have an impact or place in society.
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