Hate, racist, anti-Semitic graffiti found in bathrooms at Oak Park and River Forest High School
OAK PARK, Ill. (CBS) – Racist, hateful graffiti was discovered Friday at Oak Park and River Forest High School, and police are now on the scene.
As CBS 2’s Jermont Terry reported Friday night, this is the second time Oak Park police have been called to the school this week alone. This time, they entered a restroom and began to investigate what another student had done.
Two images of the vandalism have sparked fear and concern at OPRF. Someone scribbled an N and a swastika on a bathroom stall in the first photo.
The second image shows racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on one wall.
The school said a student found the graffiti around 11 a.m. Friday in the boys’ bathroom on the second floor.
Alison Pure-Slovin, director of Center Simon Wiesenthal.
She explains her organization’s mission.
“Human rights for all,” she said. “Who you worship, who you worship, who you love, where you come from makes no difference.”
The Center compiles a nationwide and Illinois digital hate report.
“That’s the problem. The Internet is the problem,” said Pure-Slovin. “If you go through the web – the dark web, the deep – they’re pushing out hate, and believe me if they hate a Jew, they’ll hate an African-American.”
Pure-Slovin believes that the school district must take appropriate measures to address this latest hate speech at high school.
“We’ll talk to the superintendent,” she said, “because unfortunately, this isn’t the first incident at that school.”
Back in 2018, similar hate speeches surfaced at the same high school – but the difference in this case is that the school district was not the only one taking action.
Police are also investigating to try to find out who is behind the hateful graffiti.
Pure-Slovin said: “The fact that the police are investigating tells me that they are ultimately taking anti-Semitism very seriously.
And with this happening the same week, a student was caught on the schoolyard with a loaded gunPure-Slovin says you can’t lose any chances.
“We should take every threat seriously,” she said. “We don’t know who the lone wolf is.”
School leaders sent an email to parents, calling what was discovered in the school toilets hate speech “and a crime.”
“Please consider that posting hate speech or logos will spread that content and have unintended harmful consequences for the communities it’s targeted at. Center by dialing ext 3125 if you are inside the building or call 708-434-3125 if you are outside the building,” school principal Lynda Parker said in a statement.
We know there are cameras in the hallway – part of the internal investigation will involve looking at them.
