By: Raquel Catpo, Staff Writer
On January 27-28, trees, cars, and alleyways on the intersection of Poplar Avenue and La Cruz Avenue in Millbrae were vandalized and spray-painted with swastikas, other hate symbols, and crude sexual imagery. According to a victim, a toolset worth $150 was also stolen. This hate crime occured on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and has directly affected two families. Although deputies have located the owners of the vandalized vehicles, there are no leads for this case, as of February 8th. Millbrae City Public Works notified the Millbrae Sheriff Department that the graffiti would be cleaned off the trees after the incident occurred.
There have been similar incidents of evident white supremacy and anti-Semitism across the Bay Area recently. In late 2019, Logan Stone, a 20-year-old Burlingame High School alumni, was charged with a felony for vandalism and hate crime. On the morning of September 5th, 2019, Stone graffitied swastikas, racial slurs, anarchist symbols, and homophobic messages on the walls of BHS. Another example of the surge in hate crimes is the death of an 84-year-old in San Francisco. On January 28th, Vicha Ratanapakdee, an elderly Asian American man, was on his morning walk when he was brutally assaulted by Antoine Watson. In video surveillance footage, Watson can be seen abruptly charging and slamming into Ratanapakdee before walking away. Ratanapakdee was severely injured and passed away a few days later inside a hospital.
In response to the increase in hate crimes, Serena Arge, a visual arts teacher at Mills stated, “Incidents like these are unfortunately not rare and we are not immune to these occasions. Although these are world-wide issues, they are alive and well in the Bay Area. As an educator, I believe it is our duty to discuss it and use this as an opportunity to grow. The conversations are uncomfortable and upsetting, but we must talk about them to grow and heal.” Furthermore, she explained that if we excuse these harmful behaviors and brush them off as “jokes,” hate crimes will only escalate and worsen.
Hatred comes in countless forms, from anti-Semitism to homophobia, racism, or xenophobia. Although the Bay Area has made much progress in the fight towards equality, hate crimes are still very much prevalent in our local communities. To improve as a society and country, the Millbrae community must stand up against discrimination, regardless how big or small it appears, rather than overlook or disregard it.
