KRON 4 reports that a dentist's office in San Francisco was targeted by some vandals, who painted a racist slur and a swastika on the office's window.
According to the report, the graffiti was composed of a swastika, the n-word, and then the word "die." The office belongs to Dr. Jeff Cox, who told KRON 4 that he's the first African-American dentist to set up an office in the city's financial district. The graffiti was first spotted by employees of the office, who took a photo and quickly washed it off. When asked how he felt about the graffiti, Dr. Cox said, "It’s stunning at first. It’s a little bit of a shock because you feel it’s not necessarily a San Francisco type of thing that you would see."
Given this past year, though, it seems all bets are off as to what "a San Francisco type of thing" might be these days. You'll remember late last year, shortly after the election, a man was arrested for spray painting a racial epithet and symbol on the outer wall of a business in Bayview. Shortly before that there was also the Dolores Heights homeowner who flew a Nazi flag over his home as "a comment" on the Trump victory. Or, over in the East Bay, ahead of the so-called "Free Speech Week" demonstration at UC Berkeley, part of the campus was covered in anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion, anti-immigration chalk graffiti. On top of that, there's also the Temple Sinai in Oakland, which was tagged with anti-Semitic graffiti after a Rosh Hashanah celebration in September.
In Alameda, swastika flyers began popping up in August, targeting the area's Muslim community. At the same time, there were reports of vandalism at one Alameda synagogue, Temple Israel. Rabbi Steven Chester later commented on the vandalism, saying that neither he nor his congregation were scared of the potential threat underlying the acts.
Dr. Cox shares in that sentiment, as he explained to KRON 4, "I don’t take it personally and it doesn’t anger me. Very disappointing though that there are people like that. The bigots are becoming emboldened in today’s society and frankly I feel a little sorry for whoever would use such a vile word with little regard for the beautiful diversity of humanity."
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