Ugly display of hatred: Black Lives Matter mural covered in white paint – MLive.com

YPSILANTI, MI After a Black Lives Matter mural was found covered in white paint, organizers hoped it would strengthen the fight against racism.

In a way, an organizer was almost glad it happened.

Everybody thinks we go around (complaining about racism), that were the problem, Trische Duckworth said.

No, this the problem, she told MLive on Sunday, Sept. 19.

A Black Live Matter mural in Ypsilanti was vandalized with white paint. (Photo by Chris McCall)

Vandals painted over the words, Black Lives, on the 260-foot mural, with 18-feet tall lettering at the entrance drive for Riverside Park in Depot Town. The word Matter was untouched.

A similar mural, on South Washington Street, off Michigan Avenue, was not touched. Surveillance cameras downtown may have kept vandals away.

Duckworth, executive director of Survivors Speak, a community organization, was joined by city officials and others who were outraged.

It was an ugly display of hatred, Duckworth said.

A Black Lives Matter mural in Ypsilanti was defaced with paint. (Photo by Chris McCall).

The vandals had painted the name of a group identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group.

Duckworth said that no matter who defaced the mural it showed that racism and white supremacy are not a thing of the past. Its alive and active.

She said that the vandalism is a blatant reminder of the need to fight racism. Some suggested repainting, with some of the white paint left behind so people will understand what happened here, a reminder of how hard we need to work, she said.

(Racists) do what they do, we do what we do. What they dont know is, we wont stop. There is an outpouring of support and love coming here. We are greater than this hate, she said.

The vandalism was despicable, Mayor Lois Allen-Richardson said.

A Black Lives Matter mural is painted on South Washington Street off Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti on Tuesday, June 8, 2021.Jacob Hamilton | The Ann Arbor News

Racism has raised its ugly head, she said. Its a shame theres still people in the country and the city that dont want to admit there is racism. Its all around us.

She said that the vandals may have been part of a group who stopped by a showing of the documentary, Walking While Black: L.O.V.E. is the Answer, on Thursday as part of an outdoor movie series.

While organizers initially planned to repaint the mural on Monday, the Ypsilanti City Council is expected to discuss next steps this week, Duckworth said.

The City Council approved the murals in February. Volunteers, using paint donated by Ace Hardware, painted the murals on June 5.

Similar murals have been painted in cities across the country. Flint, Kalamazoo and Jackson have such murals, too.

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Ugly display of hatred: Black Lives Matter mural covered in white paint - MLive.com