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Another Black Lives Matter sign vandalized in Jamaica Plain
By adamg on Thu, 02/11/2016 - 2:16pm
Marg Zamos-Monteith shows us Hope Central Church on Seaverns Avenue, where a Black Lives Matter sign was defaced the night after a JP Black Lives Matter vigil and four months after a similar banner in front of First Baptist Church on Centre Street was torn down (then replaced).
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Comments
"Defaced"
It's not like the vandal drew a swastika on the banner. The perpetrator took an exclusionary comment and made it more inclusive, positive and universal.
No. The sign is defaced, period.
And by defacing the sign, it has made the sign's particular important message negated and irrelevant which is not acceptable. Of course, all lives matter. That is a silly statement. Unfortunately, in the good ole US of A some lives (and, in this case, black lives) matter much less (historically as well as currently) - hence the sign.
(BTW: Deface means to spoil the surface by drawing and/or writing on it or disfiguring the surface. Covers both Nazi symbol placement and/or black magic marker cross outs.)
Cue racist tinged comments countdown in 3, 2, 1....
That's a count up
Not a countdown.
Thanks for catching my error.
n/t
I'm curious
Do you genuinely believe that the purpose of the "BLACK LIVES MATTER" sign is to advertise that white lives don't matter?
Exclusionary??
The sign didn't say "only black lives matter."
You see exclusion because you want to.
Oh Yeah?
If someone spray paints over the word "Jesus" in the phrase "Jesus Saves" on a lawn sign it's a clear an attack on that person's religion.
So why is it not an attack on that church to do the same thing on a Black Lives Matter sign?
Cancer
Do you also support someone who crosses out the word "Breast" on a sign for "Breast Cancer Awareness Month"?
Why should the Breast Cancer Awareness people "exclude" prostate cancer?
Bad example
There actually is a huge problem with breast cancer fundraising for a multitude of reasons. From a capitalistic manipulative perspective, there's the issue of pinkwashing, there's the creepy sexualization of a disease where treatment options often involve mastectomies and/or impact sexual function of patients, and on a research end there are issues with unintelligent funding of diseases by need.
To specifically target your breast-vs-prostate example:
So your metaphor is perhaps a bad example, as there are a number of legitimate gripes.
Yeah, OK
Ah, so it is OK to cross out the word "Breast" on a sign someone hangs because they are concerned about the condition on the grounds they are mistaken and have been brainwashed into supporting something they shouldn't?
Back to BLM, it's fine if you don't support the movement. It's not OK to try and silence people who support it.
Semantic deflection
I responded to your question about if it was appropriate to criticize the breast cancer industry of exclusion of other more serious/common/under-researched cancers (and it is), and I didn't mention signs or vandalism at all in my comment. Hold on, let me reply to your most recent post like you did to me:
Who are you quoting?
I never wrote what you attribute to me.
But my point remains: If someone supports one form of cancer study it's likely because they or a friend has that cancer and it's idiotic and/or heartless for you to tell them they are wrong to care about that particular cancer. It's even more moronic to suggest that someone who cares about one type of cancer is unconcerned with another.
There are similarities to your rant against Breast cancer to the rants against BLM signs: If a church has a BLM sign up it's because they are concerned with institutionalized racism against blacks. Even if they take issue with the tactics of some BLM supporters, their acknowledgment of the core problem the BLM movement represents remains true. Conversely, you can dislike the "politics" around Breast Cancer research while still being sympathetic to those facing the illness.
BostonDog's analogy is quite good
Why did you leave out the next sentence that funding based on prostate cancer deaths is the second highest, second only to breast cancer deaths funding?
Death rates for prostate and breast cancers are almost the same across the US population:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5939a6.htm
Many men develop prostate cancer, but most, over 70%, succumb to it after age 75. Whereas for women who die of breast cancer, over 60% die from it before the age of 75. http://neoneocon.com/2013/05/29/prostate-vs-breast...
Breast cancer gets more publicized and funded because it kills many women who have decades of life before them. This is vesus prostate cancer which is usually slow growing, and affecting men who were likely to die of other afflictions of old age.
There's a nuance there on why people may fundraise and budget more for breast cancer research. Just as there is nuance on the issues and circumstances that created Black Lives Matter.
It isn't a perfect example though.
Since the cause of the cancers isn't a question of those who are against cancers. If those who were incarcerated had a high incidence of colon cancer compared to the general population, or if whites were somehow being blamed for giving poor people in Flint, MI some form of Lung cancer, the analogy would make a little more sense.
Pete, I don't think anyone is
Pete, I don't think anyone is trying to take the analogy that far.
The point is that we single out things for more attention/scrutiny/funding all the time for many reasonable concerns. And that telling people their focus is somehow wrong without bothering to consider and address those concerns is at best, ignorance.
I do not
But that's a bad example. A better example would be a group demanding the whole world focuses on something like lassa virus and ignores everything else, and anyone pointing out that cancer kills 100,000 times as many people as lassa virus and requires more attention is immediately crucified as a heartless monster.
Don't point things out and
Don't point things out and act like you're being noble if you're not contributing to any solution. Especially if you plan to obstruct any work on other issues.
Very Inclusive
http://www.theinclusionsolution.me/a-point-of-view-all-words-matter-blac...
Congrats, you and the sign
Good work, genius. You and your buddy just ended racism by defacing a sign and pretending racism doesn't exist. Why, just as I'm typing this message judges stopped giving longer sentences to black people than white people who committed the same crimes! You did it!
Look at the original tweet-makes good point
"Do they vandalize cancer awareness signs w/ 'all diseases matter'?"
Let's see what our old pal Mr. Dictionary has to say about it!
deface
/dəˈfās/
verb
past tense: defaced; past participle: defaced
That's weird! I could have sworn the definition went on to say "however, if you draw or write on something, spoiling the appearance in order to correct it according to your own values and philosophy, or just to be a contrarian douchebag, it's not defacement! Even if it's not your property and you didn't ask permission!"
Eloquent words from the pastor of the church (from her FB post):
"Overnight, after our Ash Wednesday service, someone defaced our Black Lives Matter banner. You can see, someone painted over the word "Black." This is how common racism works, a thousand tiny cuts, an erasure of of existence, a not seeing, a not hearing, a not believing, a not allowing another's life and reality to be central, insisting on one's own place at center. This is why I'm asking you to pray for our people of color today and always - for encouragement and support. But also so we may identify the strength and resilience inside us all, for the living through everyday racism."
Laura Ruth Jarrett
Huh?
Crossing out the word Black is not racism.
noun
noun: racism
the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
The person who did so COULD be racist and believe Blacks are inferior. Or, they could be punk kids who knew this would get on the news. Or, they could be someone who doesn't agree with the BLM movement. Nobody has any idea yet, but to say it's "racism" is just wrong.
The dictionary! Oh ho ho you have bested them!
Now go! Go explain your truths to the church! I'm sure if you just show them The Dictionary, they will agree that what happened here is indeed Not Racist and they should just Be Okay with it!
Yes
Because being a pastor absolutely makes someone infallible.
Yes
Because being a pastor absolutely makes someone infallible.
Huh?
Sure, and the kids who paint swastikas on the side of schools might be referencing the native american symbol and have absolutely no idea about the other meanings of the symbol.
You just proved the point
Disagreeing with the Black Lives Matter movement, whose mission is to get people to understand that Black lives deserve the same respect as non-Black lives, would in fact be racism.
(And don't EVEN start in with the nitpicky bullshit that someone might understand that racism is a problem and understand that we live in a country in which Black lives are not valued as much as other lives, but take issue with some of the approaches of BLM and would express this by defacing a sign. No, actually, people who understand that racism is a thing are trying to shout it from the rooftops, because so few white people get that racism is a problem. They're not trying to divide themselves from people who might express themselves a bit differently than they do, and they're certainly not defacing signs in a way that any reasonable person realizes IS IN FACT RACIST and is in fact going to cause just about any Black person and just about anyone who loves Black people to feel hurt and anger and fear when they see that someone in their community felt it was OK to do that.)
I don't agree with the
I don't agree with the catholic church aiding priests who raped kids, so according to you its cool if I deface any sign that says "catholic"?
I wonder if this is a
I wonder if this is a reference to Beyonce's performance on Sunday? Many blue likes were upset by it. Are they trying to say "Blue Lives Matter", or maybe they just had blue spray paint? We may never know!
Ferguson
And all this after the Feds sues the city of ferguson... That idiot that painted the signed should pay more attention to what's going on in dominant black or minorities areas.
As should YOU
Ferguson is dead broke and can afford to implement what the Feds requested. It a horse and pony show, unless maybe you think Ferguson should have pulled money from other resources like education.
I try to be positive and talk
I try to be positive and talk myself into believing that most people who respond to black lives matter by saying "all lives matter" just don't understand the point of the black lives matter movement. I'm never successful in that pursuit though and I know that a lot of those people are actually just racist.
People do not realize that it
People do not realize that it is not so much a racial issue but more of a police mentality issue. The only reason you have more and more of these incidents coming out in the public and more police officers getting in trouble is they are being recorded by cell phones. They used to always get away with he said/she said but now the truth is on film.
Excuse me?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/11/us/law-enforcement-officers-shot-dead/inde...
You're excused
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/29/461402091/number-of-po...
Not Art?
Am I the only one here to see it wasn't defaced by the "Not Art" guy?
Great comments as always
Might I just add, things like BLM, BET, NAACP, etc exist because they need to exist. White people dont need a WhiteEntertainmentTelevision because just about every channel, movie etc is made to their tastes. Mind you, I don't think that's wrong, nor do I think there's anything wrong with anyone who takes pride in their heritage. But a spade is a spade. Personally I think the BLM is pointless and doesn't get to the heart of issues in the black community.
White lives have always mattered
Black lives in America's history? Not so much.
I'm an old white liberal but far from a whole-hearted supporter of this movement. I like the ends more than the means.
However I find it interesting that this vandalism is being seen in such a racist light.
Without knowing the vandal's intention there is something to be said for changing the statement to be more inclusive.
Isn't the goal to ensure all lives matter?
It's quite simple
Don't deface people's signs.
Make your own. Post them on your property. And no one should deface those, either.
This country is so
This country is so heartbreakingly divided. I'm a police officer and I'm often at a loss for words. It's so difficult to go out there daily and remember why I signed up for this in the first place.
We aren't going to make it much longer. That's the conclusion I've reached. After seven years patrolling a tough neighborhood (and not even one of the toughest, when you consider what is happening in Chicago and Baltimore), I've come to the grim termination that America refuses to heal its wounds.
This week alone, a lot of young black men died. A lot of cops did too (http://m.wcvb.com/national/4-us-law-officers-shot-within-days-3-dead/379...).
I hate to be the bearer of bad news. I still try to remember to be kind, have empathy, and yet be tactical and represent the optimy of justice. It's just become so damn hard.
Sincerely,
A Boston cop.
Sadly
This will most likely continue. People, right or wrong, fear the police based on the frequency of horror stories you hear on the news. Many people will take the approach of shooting back. Plus we continue to hear stories of police who shoot up the wrong house or shoot some unarmed man. Maybe we should start to highlight the good cops. Whatever happened to Officer Friendly?
First the desecration of free libraries now
the embarrassment of having to acknowledge that Trump voters live in JP. To think that intolerance may drive a Subaru is upsetting. Oh the humanity!
You gotta keep your hispters straight
Damnit, bulgingbuick, we've been over this like a dozen times. JP hipsters drive Priuses (Prii?) with Elizabeth Warren stickers on them. Camberville hipsters drive Subarus advertising Diesel Cafe. Arlington drivers are in Chevy Volts with "Coexist" stickers, or in one notable case, a 1976 Chevy Vega careening over a sidewalk while attempting to run down a bicyclist.
You fail to recognize that Subaru has been designing earth shoe
friendly vehicles since before hipsters were born. A Prius seat does not accept the bulk of a down LL Bean parka like a Subaru. JP has been out hipping Cambridge since before hipsters self invented and the Subaru has been the go to vehicle of progressives since the Saab wagon went extinct. Cambridge is an intellectual interloper community and JP is a progressive home for life. Arlington does not belong in this conversation and Somerville..well lets just say bicycle.