Community concern mounted this week after allegedly anti-immigration graffiti appeared in three separate locations on Evanston’s north side.
The xenophobic messages were first discovered in the course of less than 20 minutes Thursday morning, according to the day’s crime report from the Evanston Police Department. Each instance was found on Metra viaducts along Green Bay Road from Lincoln to Livingston streets.
One of the statements claimed “whites will be minorities by 2042” and questioned whether “we all (will) just be poorer” as a result. Another viaduct was painted with the words “Let America decline, support mass immigration. Demography is destiny.”
EPD Cmdr. Tom Guenther said the subversive graffiti is relatively “unusual” for both its articulateness and pointed subject. Police are still investigating the three cases, he added.
Some Central Street merchants, including Video Adventure manager Larry Maday, recalled similar damage in the area at least twice before in recent memory. In the blotter that appeared in The Daily’s Sept. 26 edition, Guenther confirmed the criminal damage reported Thursday is the second incident of similar nature in the past month.
One of the previous bouts of anti-immigration graffiti came “right back again” after being painted over earlier this year, Maday said.
The recurring vandalism falls directly in the territory of the Central Street Neighbors Association (CSNA), a non-profit membership group “formed to promote and preserve” the surrounding area, according to its website.
In a Thursday post on the CSNA’s online forum, a user named “C. Levin” called the hostile statements “very sad” and said they do not “reflect the sentiment of this community.”
CSNA President Jeff Smith downplayed the graffiti’s impact – deeming it “not a big topic of conversation” – but added the association denounces all attempts to divide the community. He said it simply appears someone is “trying to stir things up.”
Regardless, Maday agreed any kind of criminal defacing “definitely damages the neighborhood.”
“It definitely brings down the community, especially in those areas that are heavily trafficked,” he said. “It’s one of those things no one wants to see.”
The harsh talk has disturbed at least one shopkeeper, who refused to provide a full name to prevent future retaliation.
The shopkeeper, who works within walking distance of the Central Street Metra stop, said the nationalist rhetoric reminded him of the same angst found during the Vietnam War.
“It’s definitely appalling that someone has to resort to hooliganship to get their point out,” the shopkeeper said.
The bitter language was less shocking to Bill Tkachuk, pastor of St. Nicholas Parish, 806 Ridge Ave. He described his churchgoers as drawn from immigrant groups from Mexico to Haiti.
“Historically, it’s not unusual – when a society is having hard economic times, you find a group to be angry at and blame,” Tkachuk said.
He urged the community to “step back and step above” the incendiary graffiti but not completely ignore it. City residents should remain vigilant of further offenses, Tkachuk added.
Although the controversial spray paint was mostly covered up by Tuesday night, Tkachuk said it rekindled a lasting lesson.
“Every immigrant wave has added something wonderful to our country,” he said. “We’re a country of immigrants.”
