In a previous post, Doron Reshen wrote Our Roads Should Represent Everyone, Not Just One Agenda.

Highland Park Mayor Elsie Foster responded:

Recently a handful of Borough residents have reached out to me, to ask if we will remove the ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural on South 5th Ave, by Borough Hall.

They assert that the term is now _offensive_ and should be removed because some Black Lives Matters chapters, and one offshoot group of the national organization, recently made awful public statements in support of Hamas, in its war with Israel.

Let me be crystal clear in my response to these suggestions.

The ‘Black Lives Mural’ will remain where it is.

This mural means a lot to me, to my African American brothers and sisters in town, and to many of our fair-minded friends throughout Highland Park.

This mural reminds us that, in a time when we should have finally gotten past racism, there are still politicians, police officers, and public personalities who can’t see past the color of our skin and feel entitled to treat us as second class citizens (or worse). But in Highland Park, the governing body and the police department make a strong effort, every day, to look at each person as the human being they are.

When we look at this mural, we’re not thinking about the pronouncements or policies of the national organizations or chapters outside our area (honestly, they make no difference to us). We’re thinking about the simple idea that ‘Black Lives Matter” to us and to our neighbors in Highland Park.

Yes, I know that the BLM chapters in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and Phoenix said some vile things about Israel. Let me point out that the other 36 + chapters of BLM did not choose to wade into the conflict. And as the Anti Defamation League stated recently:
“It is important to note that Black Lives Matter chapters are run independently from the national Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, and many are completely unaffiliated. The Black Lives Matter national organization has not yet commented on the current Israel-Hamas war.”

So please, let’s not try to invalidate an expression, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ just because a few of the people that live under that umbrella act in grossly ignorant ways. Because the many, many other people standing under that umbrella are decent, good people.

In case there’s any doubt, I condemn the awful things the folks in BLM chapters in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and Phoenix, and the BLM Grassroots group, said.

And I enthusiastically support our ‘Black Lives Mural’ in Highland Park.

Thank you.

What do you think? Should the Borough spend taxpayer money to repaint the Black Lives Matter mural? Visit the forum to leave your comments. Thank you.