While we’ve seen a rise in blatant white nationalism since the start of this presidency, Black History Month always has a particular way of bringing out the worst in racists.
A report from CBS 3 in Philadelphia details how a long-standing mural of civil rights figure Cecil B. Moore has been defaced. The assailant spray pained the F-word and the N-word across the mural. The mural has been apart of the neighborhood for over 25 years. Moore was a member of the Philadelphia City Council, fought in WWII and was a local civil rights activist who most notably led the charge to desegregate Girard College. Police have launched an investigation and are searching for surveillance video to find the person responsible for the graffiti.
Residents in the Philadelphia neighborhood were shocked and disgusted by the display. While I’m certainly disgusted, I can’t say I’m particularly shocked. It feels like every week some new heinous act in service to white nationalism is committed. At a time where we’re celebrating the black men and women who have fought to better this nation, it makes an unfortunate amount of sense that the worst of this country would feel the need to come out of the woodwork.
If there’s an upshot to this, it’s that in addition to being just the worst, racists also tend to be the dumbest. I’m fairly certain that whoever did this will be caught and it’ll be for the stupidest reasons possible.