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Friday, August 30, 2024

A mural struggles to be seen

Whitewashed
London, ON
August 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

So when an alleged criminal allegedly painted virulently anti-Semitic statements in multiple locations in our neighbourhood earlier this month, one of his alleged targets was a large mural that had been gracing the outer wall of a convenience store for years.

(For the record, I despise the word “alleged” in all its forms. Onward.)

It had been signed by the dozen or so community groups that had participated in its creation, and it was a beacon of kindness to the neighbourhood and adjoining school. I smiled every time I walked past, and I know I wasn’t alone, as I’d often come across others just staring at it.

Art moves people, people. Truth.

But the prospect of a mural tainted with “JEW CAMP C” in massive white paint wouldn’t play well with the hundreds of kids returning soon to the school next door (its back walls were also thoroughly defiled, in case we’re keeping score), so the owner understandably had it painted over in white.

If we’re being brutally honest, I wanted to cry when I first saw it. Imagine a symbol of collaboration and community-mindedness being utterly ruined by the hateful acts of a hateful man. Not alleged.

Yet in all darkness there is light, and this moment of sickening rage has spawned a fascinating next chapter. I was approached by a concerned neighbour while walking my dog. Conversations have ensued. Emails have flown back and forth. Community organizations have weighed in. And next week some of us will be meeting with our very remarkable city councillor for a chat over tea.

Will it get our old mural back? No. But will it spawn something else? Possibly. And we owe it to ourselves to see where this might go.

Someday I’d like to stand on that same sidewalk alongside the no-longer-alleged, long-since-convicted perpetrator of this crime. I’d like him to take in the splendour of whatever it is that our neighbours ultimately recreate there. I’d like him to appreciate what he’s taken away, the hurt and fear that he’s caused, and the fire he’s unleashed in its wake.

Because hatred never wins. We simply can’t allow it.

#ldnont


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