Seattle’s Chinatown-International District has been marred by an act of vandalism on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, targeting a public art exhibit that honors Japanese American history. The incident, which drew significant concern from the neighborhood known for its cultural vibrancy and resilience, involved defacement with paint and the scrawling of Bible verses across the artwork. The community discovered the damage on a day meant for reflection and reverence, turning the occasion into one of distress and disappointment for many local advocates and residents.
According to KING 5 News, the damage was not only a visual blight, but also, a blow to the memory and history that the artwork represented. In a related incident, an educational mural that commemorated the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II was similarly vandalized.
A local citizen, Glasco noted, “I noticed it was just smeared, and it had some Bible verses written on it,” according to FOX 13 Seattle. The verses added to the mural, however, did not present a clear connection to the depicted historical events, leaving advocacy groups puzzled about the perpetrator’s intent…