Heil Hitler, swastikas, Ku Klux Klan, “beaner,” “back across the border,” and a message asking for the resignation of Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez, were all written in spray paint across various locations in Sacramento. Sacramento is no stranger to hateful graffiti aimed at ethnic, religious and racial minorities.

In July through August, racist graffiti including swastikas and the acronym K.K.K. were found spray-painted in neighborhoods in Elk Grove, Natomas and River Park. In May, racist graffiti aimed at Latinos was spray-painted in bathrooms at Sac State. In September, the phrase, “Dear Gonzo PLZ RESIGN” was spray-painted near an entrance to Mendocino Hall. However, there are differences in how these events are covered by local media outlets. Local television stations KCRA and KOVR both showed images of the racist messages found in Natomas, Elk Grove and River Park. The State Hornet chose not to run images of the graffiti found in the bathrooms in May or the most recent act of graffiti on Mendocino Hall. The decision by the university to cover up the “resignation” message, the decision of the State Hornet not to run photos of either acts of graffiti, and the overall issue of quickly concealing and covering up graffiti and hiding it from the public can give the impression that the truth (good or bad) is being concealed.

There is truth in even the most ignorant and evil acts of graffiti. Not truth meaning we agree with the message, but truth meaning acknowledging the reality that hate and bigotry are still very much alive and well in America. The majority of people abhor messages of hate, however sometimes we think hiding them will make them, and the people who wrote them, go away. People make a false assumption that showing graffiti gives the perpetrator undue publicity. Of course, graffiti is seen as a scar, upsetting the otherwise visually pleasing land – or cityscape. However, there is something unsettling about immediately covering up such images.

I also have a problem with the reaction of the university regarding the graffiti. In response to the racist messages found on campus in May, Gonzalez, the alleged target of the graffiti, didn’t come out and say, “Regardless of the on-campus issue, as a Latino I want to stand in solidarity with other Latinos and minorities at Sac State and say we will not tolerate hate and bigotry on this campus.” Instead, he claimed the incident was likely a result of “tensions” among faculty and students toward him. This failure to recognize the bigger issue is frightening. He should have acknowledged that what was scrawled on the bathroom wall was motivated by hate and directed at a specific population, not just a reflection of on-campus “tensions.” For him to indirectly place the blame on students and faculty is offensive. I don’t agree with the job Gonzalez is doing as school president, however, that does not mean I dislike him because of his ethnicity.

Most people know what a swastika looks like, however, people need to see those images to keep society aware that racism and hate haven’t gone away. Immediately covering up hateful graffiti is tantamount to saying, “Nothing to see here, no problem here, go about your day.”

While it is easy to dismiss the message asking for Gonzalez’s resignation simply as a childish prank, it is a reflection of a larger problem at Sac State. That is, people have become so indignant about the job Gonzalez is doing that someone has resorted to graffiti to change the dire situation on this campus. Furthermore, the decision of the university to cover up the graffiti, while understandable from its point-of-view, can’t hide the fact that people don’t like the job he is doing. The no-confidence votes by both faculty and students make this fact very clear. Obviously, the university isn’t going to allow acts of graffiti to be put on display, however, the school newspaper should.

The State Hornet needs to make sure these images are seen. Regardless of whether or not there is a correlation – implicit or explicit – between on-campus issues and the graffiti itself, people need to know what is going on at Sac State. This world is full of ugly, beautiful, horrific and peaceful images and the aggregate of those images gives us reality. Hiding the truth, ugly as it may be, can give people a false sense of security and skew their perception of reality. We shouldn’t just see and hear only what is good and filter out the bad. Author Philip K. Dick astutely pointed out that “reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” If I had to guess, a severe lack of confidence in our school president as well as racism, hate and bigotry aren’t going away anytime soon.

Scott Allen can be reached at [email protected]