The Democrats of the Morongo Basin installed its third sign advocating racial justice on private property in Yucca Valley Tuesday. Managing editor Tami Roleff says it wasn’t long before that sign was destroyed…
On Tuesday, the Democrats of the Morongo Basin installed a banner on private property at the top of the Yucca Grade. The only writing on the sign was, “Hate is too great a burden to bear,” a quote by the late Civil Rights leader and Congressman John Lewis. Before the day was over, someone cut the sign in half and left it in pieces. Paula Durrant of the Democratic Club has a message for residents.
“This vandalism is unacceptable in a Democracy where free speech is one of the rights granted by our Constitution. The people who believe they have the right to destroy the property of others are criminals. The people who believe that by removing our message it will stop our work for racial justice are wrong. The people who are destroying our messages do not understand what it means to live in a Democracy. The fact that they cannot drive by a sign that they may not agree with and leave it alone should be of deep concern to every American. Like small children who cover their eyes when they don’t want to see what is before them, these criminals think if they can’t see our banner, it and our work doesn’t exist.
“We are deepened and empowered in our commitment to work toward a community and a nation in which racism is part of our history and no longer exists in the public sector of our community.”
