“It was a moment when I should be proud my child is learning how to read instead of having to tell him about something disgusting,” added Medway resident Bunch.
The April 7 incident marked the second time in less than a month that offensive graffiti was found at a park in Springfield.
The previous incident occurred in mid-March at Davey Moore Park, when vulgar and hateful graffiti was spray painted on playground equipment, a brick shelter, bathrooms and metal benches. WHIO reported that it included explicit imagery, homophobic slurs, racial slurs for Black people and white supremacist messaging, including swastikas.
Davey Moore Park is named for the 1950s-60s boxer from Springfield of that name, who was Black, and who won boxing’s featherweight world championship.
According to the March 13 Springfield Police report, the graffiti at Davey Moore Park also included several KKK references and sexually explicit drawings. A parks employee removed it using a pressure washer and paint.
Incidents such as these are reported to Springfield Police for investigation, said National Trail Parks and Recreation District Director Leann Castillo.
The Davey Moore Park investigation is still ongoing, while the Snyder Park incident of the single racist word was not reported to police.
Staff found and removed the Snyder Park graffiti the morning of Tuesday, April 8, Castillo said.
“We have staff in the parks every morning removing trash and cleaning areas,” she said. “We try to remove graffiti as soon as we see it. The time to clean it up depends on how involved it is. It really depends on if it needs to be painted, power washed, sandblasted or (treated) just using graffiti remover.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Springfield resident and park visitor Ronald Griffin was dismayed by the earlier graffiti in Davey Moore Park.
“I don’t want to see anything like that in any of our parks,” said Griffin, 86. “They’re nice places to go and to take your family. They have shelters for reunions and picnics. They have playgrounds. I want them to be safe, and I hope they catch (the culprits). There should be some consequences. The parks are for the public.”
Castillo said she doesn’t know why the parks were targeted.
“Safety is always our first concern in all of our parks and in the community,” she said. “(Graffiti) is not just a park problem. Our community deals with it every day.”
The park graffiti adds to the community’s recent experiences disparaging people of color. The city of Springfield and community leaders filed a lawsuit in federal court in February against neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe. It alleges members of the group started a “months-long intimidation campaign” that included an Aug. 10 march downtown during which members waved swastika flags, yelled racial slurs and brandished weapons during the city’s annual Jazz and Blues festival.
Springfield also was thrust into the national spotlight in September after national Republican political figures spread false rumors about Haitian immigrants eating pets. In the days after, the city was plagued by more than 30 bomb threats to schools, businesses and government offices.
Griffin suggested camera surveillance at the parks to reduce such incidents. But Bunch noted the Snyder Park graffiti was in a location that already had signs indicating it was under surveillance.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Castillo said cameras are not always the best and most cost-effective means of deterring crime, and that trail cameras have sometimes been stolen.
“Due to our limited staff and budget constraints, we do not have cameras at all of our parks,” she said. “We could never cover all 2,035 acres we are responsible for.”
Griffin and Bunch agreed the community needs to be on the lookout so incidents of hateful graffiti stop.
“Through my son and worrying about his safety, this hit me hard,” Bunch said. “I can’t imagine being a family of color and feeling targeted in that way when you’re just trying to have an innocent day at the park. You should be able to take your family and let your kids play and be creative. A life lesson talk about how disgusting people can be shouldn’t have to take place at a park.”
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