The Community of El Sobrante Speaks Out Against Swastika Installation
We live in El Sobrante and are grateful to live in a small community with such diversity of race, religion and ethnicity.
Then we heard that in June 2019 a member of our community erected a 10 foot by 10 foot swastika in his front yard. A swastika, which once was a religious symbol, is now widely recognized as an international symbol of hate. In the last 100 years, under the banner of the swastika, millions of Jewish, Roma, gay, and other people were brutally slaughtered.
The presence of a swastika in our community makes many people feel unsafe to live in a community that tolerates visible expressions of hate and bigotry. Therefore, we are calling on this person to remove the swastika.
We came together and took a stand in our community when hate reared its head in the past.
Many businesses and homes have a Not In Our Town: El Sobrante sign posted.
We are speaking out now to show our neighbors that we want to keep El Sobrante as a welcoming community, free of intolerance and hate.
Please add your name and circulate to your neighbors. Visit the petition.
****UPDATE****
In Summer, 2019, an El Sobrante resident built a swastika that covered his entire front yard. As a private citizen, it was not illegal for him to do this. However, the local reaction was swift when the news media flew helicopters over the yard to reveal this huge symbol of hate. In
response, people inundated social media with concern. El Sobrante Courageous Resistance sponsored a local protest, neighbors reached out to him requesting that he remove it.
Not In Our Town El Sobrante, created an online petition asking him to remove it that garnered over 47,000 signatures! As a result of the outpouring of concern and pressure, the man who built the swastika completely covered it with gravel.
El Sobrante stands with many other
communities who have taken a strong stand against bigotry and hate wherever it rears its ugly head, sending a clear message:
No Hate in El Sobrante. Not in Our Town.
