Rally Against White Supremacy, Hate Held In Jamestown Following Statue Vandalism


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JAMESTOWN – A rallying taking a stand against white supremacy and hate was held in Jamestown on Saturday morning, highlighting the historical significance of an Underground Railroad exhibit that was vandalized last weekend.

“This is an attack on the Black Community of the City of Jamestown,” explained Jamestown City Councilwoman Regina Brackman. “I know that there’s been other vandalism in various parks throughout the city, but the white supremacy markings on these statues, the fact that a statue was stolen, this is definitely an attack on the black community, and we can’t allow that.”





Trouble at Dow Park started in late May, when a 500-pound copper statue was stolen. Then just months later, vandalism struck the two remaining historical symbols.

“What we saw there was swastikas, specific white supremacists’ numbers and code words on these statues of people that worked on the Underground Railroad, that’s white supremacy, that’s what we’re fighting against, that’s what we are standing against,” said Hubbard.

Police are still looking for who is responsible for vandalizing the Silas Sherman and Catherine Harris statues, however one theory is local youth are to blame. In that case, Justin Hubbard, Coordinator with the Jamestown Justice Coalition, says that schools need to step up.





















“I’m a teacher, I had to go to Fredonia, I had to go to college to learn about the history of the Underground Railroad in Jamestown, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be teaching that at Jamestown Public School,” said Hubbard.

Many in attendance today agree that something must be done, not to just protect the exhibits at the park, but across the city as well.

“I’m all for some type of surveillance in this park and other parts where there is vandalism,” said Brackman. “It’s kind of a little too late because we have a missing statue, and we’ve had vandalism to the statues, but I still think that it is something needed to prevent further vandalism and thefts.”

The City Council will discuss installing cameras at the park during their Monday evening meeting.









 

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