Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge In Indiana Vandalized With a Call For The Death Of Interracial Couples
Just a few days after the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge in Fort Wayne, Indiana has been vandalized for the second time in two weeks.
Racist writings were discovered on Sunday on two benches which appeared to be written in black marker on the white slats of the benches. The disturbing words were directed at interracial relationships.
Frank Suarez, a spokesman for the city, said, “Fort Wayne residents embrace and take pride in our landmarks.”
The writing specifically targets the relationships of black men with white women, according to the Journal Gazette.
“White women do not need to mix … keep the white race pure,” the passage began on one bench.
Written on the other bench was a call for the death of interracial couples and again makes a claim to “keep the white race pure.”
One bench calls for people to remember Joseph Paul Franklin, a killer who spouted white supremacist views and was recently executed for the deaths of more than 20 people.
In statements to national media before his execution, he said his objective was to start a race war.
Targeting interracial couples was one focus, if not the main focus, of his killing spree during the late 1970s.
One of his intended victims was civil rights leader Vernon Jordan, who survived being shot by Franklin in Fort Wayne in 1980 outside Jordan’s hotel.
This is the second time in two weeks vandalism has occurred on the bridge. In the previous vandalism, a smiley face was found painted on one of the plaques with King’s face on it at the end of the bridge, according to police and images posted to local media websites.
Tommy6860 July 7th, 2014 at 5:39 pm
:'( “White women do not need to mix … keep the white race pure,”
Some of these folks are just ignorant, but the worst of the lot are those who are willfully ignorant, that’s the danger among us. Not one of them could define ‘race’ in human terms, since it is not scientifically applicable.
“Racism” however, is a very real thing and we can go along
way by not referring to ourselves as a “race” because of our ethnicity.
Deborah July 7th, 2014 at 6:20 pm
Could there be some Neanderthal in this vandal’s ancestry?
tiredoftea July 7th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Yes, in all our ancestry. But, that’s not the problem, which is much more recent. It’s called a particularly harsh strain of christianity, Southern Baptist, specifically. Just think of them as the christian version of fanatical taliban muslims.
Deborah July 8th, 2014 at 3:04 am
A poster at PoliticusUSA had a really good name for them…..Y’all Quida Saudi America.
Deborah July 8th, 2014 at 3:12 am
Her name is Robyn Ryan, and the phrase she used was y’all Quida, supporters of Saudi America.
tiredoftea July 7th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
But, hey, we don’t have no stinkin’ race problems!